The James E. "Jim" King Building

The $55-million, 180,126-sf Life Sciences building includes a two-story lobby, a 150-seat auditorium, teaching and research laboratories, classrooms, support spaces, a BSL-3 suite, laboratory animal resources, and a greenhouse complex.

The new Life Sciences building site is limited in size by a street to the west, the College of Medicine to the north, the Department of Psychology to the east, and a large parking garage to the south. Along with the site limitations were guidelines that required the building design to fit in with the Jacobean Revival architectural style of FSU’s campus. Jacobean buildings have steeply pitched roofs, which necessitate fairly narrow floorplates. Planners addressed this by designing a combination of low-sloped and steeply pitched roof areas, by integrating the biology department’s greenhouse complex onto the roof, and by sharing the College of Medicine’s existing loading dock.

The building is divided into two, five-story wings joined by a two-story central lobby to provide researchers with a light, airy, and transparent environment fostering open relationships to the outside. More than half of the Department of Biological Science is housed in the new building, including the divisions of Cell and Molecular Biology; Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Science; and Physiology and Neuroscience.

An adaptable laboratory design, with stacked teaching and research labs, allows the teaching labs to be converted to research labs if needed in the future. Lab modules are designed to allow for easy reconfiguration of fume hoods, laboratory utilities, and power to the benches. Core support space is located in the center of each floor so that the labs are around the outside, providing researchers with plenty of light from large windows.

The building’s south wing houses teaching labs and three computer classrooms on the first and second floors, while the north wing’s first floor houses a field research area and an animal lab that leads to the cagewash facility through an underground tunnel. The north wing’s second floor includes a neuroscience lab and shared analytical core facility on the second floor. Faculty offices are located on the second through fourth floors of both wings.

On the third and fourth floors of both wings are the Cell and Molecular Biology Division laboratories and the Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Science labs, respectively. Shared environmental chambers are spread throughout both floors, and a BSL-3 lab is located on the south wing’s third floor. The Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Science labs are specifically located on the fourth floors for their proximity to the four greenhouses joined by a headhouse on the fifth story rooftop. The greenhouse complex is used for plant genetic research.

Many mainstream sustainable features had already been included in the building’s design when FSU officials decided during construction they wanted the building to be LEED certified. Making a few strategic modifications gained enough points to apply for LEED certification, including the addition of bike racks and preferred parking spaces for low-emitting vehicles; modification of the landscape design to include lower water demanding species; designation of open space adjacent to the project; the substitution of dual-flush flush valves and low-flow shower heads, which hadn’t yet been purchased; an increase in the commissioning agent’s scope; and implementation by the construction manager of an indoor air quality management plan and flush out with fresh air prior to building occupancy.

Content for this profile provided by Lord, Aeck & Sargent Inc.

Project Information

Building Owner:

Florida State University

Building Location:

Tallahassee, Florida UNITED STATES

Project Type:

New Construction

Principal Building Function:

Research and teaching

Project Delivery Method:

Construction Management

Project Timeline

Aug 2003	Planning Start
Jan 2004	Design Start
May 2006	Construction Start
Jun 2008	Completion
Last known status: Completed

Project Cost:

$62,600,000

Construction Cost:

$55,000,000

Cost Per Sq. Ft:

$287

About These Cost Figures

Building Information

Project Includes:

Biocontainment
Biology
Education
Greenhouse
Laboratory
Vivarium

Total GSF:

180,126

Project Team

Architect of Record

Elliott Marshall Innes PA

Commissioning Agent

Newcomb & Boyd

Construction Management

LLT Building Corporation

Consultant - Architect

Lord, Aeck & Sargent

Engineer - MEP

Tilden, Lobritz, Cooper

Engineer - Civil

Moore Bass Consulting

Engineer - Electrical

Tilden, Lobritz, Cooper

Engineer - Structural

Tilden, Lobritz, Cooper

Laboratory Programmer

Lord, Aeck & Sargent

Landscape Architect

Moore Bass Consulting

Supplier - Accoustical Ceiling Tile

Armstrong World Industries

Supplier - Autoclaves

Tuttnauer USA

Supplier - Brick

Hanson Brick

Supplier - Carpet

Collins & Aikman Floor Coverings Inc.

Supplier - Casework

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Supplier - Environmental Enclosures

BioCold Environmental Inc.

Supplier - Greenhouse

American Hydrotech

Supplier - Laboratory Fixtures

Nederman

Supplier - Laboratory Fixtures

Chicago Faucets

Supplier - Paint

Porter Paints

Supplier - Rack Washers

STERIS Corporation

Supplier - Toilets/Urinals

Zurn Industries

Profile Created 09/03/2008

Last Updated 08/29/2008

About the Reported Cost Figures

The cost figures reported are supplied by the firms that submitted these projects for publication, which in most cases are the designers or builders. Whereas these sources are intimately familiar with their projects, they may not be fully aware of the owners' finally-realized and recorded costs. In some cases, costs are truly and completely accounted for, and in others they represent a near approximation of the final costs. Costs have not been adjusted for year of construction, nor has any attempt been made to make regional cost adjustments.

Further, costs are not comparable on any kind of detailed standard costing model. Hence, it is possible for the cost of one building to include a steam boiler, while the cost of a comparable building might not include the boiler, if steam is being supplied from an already existing campus grid. Or, in another case, a building might include excess boiler capacity to supply steam to another building. Some submittals include fees or unusual site improvements as part of the construction costs, which others do not.

Fig. 1

Exterior

Fig. 2

Exterior at Night

Fig. 3

Lab Interior

Fig. 4

Greenhouse Complex

Fig. 5

Lab Interior