Public Health Laboratory | Tradeline, Inc.

Staff of the public health laboratories in south Georgia have moved into a new facility that serves the area with modern testing equipment and provides surge capacity for the State’s larger Georgia Public Health Laboratory in Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta. The new Georgia Public Health Laboratory in Waycross is a smaller “sister” lab to the Decatur facility.

Though not as big, the Waycross and Decatur labs are very much alike in both physical appearance and internal design. This was specifically planned in the event that if the Decatur facility were to become non-functional for any reason, people and equipment could easily move into comparable space and pick up research testing with minimal retraining time.

Some interior similarities between the two buildings include the disposition of offices to laboratory spaces, the configuration of laboratories, and the relationship of support spaces to laboratories.

The $11.1 million, 23,840-sf Waycross facility houses two BSL-3 laboratory suites for specified testing of chemical and biological threat specimens. The suites include the latest technologies for laboratory and environmental safety to protect people inside and outside the laboratories. Among these technologies are the abilities to filter exhaust air from the facility and to continuously decontaminate all of the labs’ wastewater so that it is completely clean. The building also incorporates all of the latest technologies for guarding against intrusion or abnormal events.

In addition to the chemical and biological terrorism laboratory suites, the Waycross facility includes laboratory production space, a mail screening area, an “unknowns” room for examination of potentially hazardous deliveries, a training classroom, a training lab, offices, and conference room space.

Similar to the Decatur facility, the Waycross building’s exterior is clad in salvaged granite tombstone, brown painted steel shingles, and glass. The entry lobby area includes an 18-inch granite base above which is an expansive storefront glazing system that reaches almost to the metal roof.

The building is oriented to maximize the amount of light while at the same time to block unwanted heat gain. The design brings natural light into the building through the storefront glazing system. The offices on the west perimeter have clerestory windows, which carry light into the interior laboratories.

The site is designed to minimize storm water runoff with minimal impervious surfaces and two rainwater detention ponds, one in front of the building and another in the parking lot. These create a security buffer between the road and the building and also provide a suitable building foreground.

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

Project Information

Building Owner:

State of Georgia

Building Location:

Waycross, Georgia UNITED STATES

Project Type:

New Construction

Principal Building Function:

Research

Project Delivery Method:

Guaranteed Maximum Price

Project Timeline

May 2003	Planning Start
Jan 2005	Design Start
Feb 2006	Construction Start
Apr 2007	Completion
Last known status: Completed

Project Cost:

$12,200,000

Construction Cost:

$11,100,000

Cost Per Sq. Ft:

$465

About These Cost Figures

Building Information

Project Includes:

Government
Laboratory

Total GSF:

23,840

Project Team

Architect

Lord, Aeck & Sargent

Commissioning Agent

WorkingBuildings LLC

Consultant - Fire Protection

Newcomb & Boyd

Engineer - MEP

Newcomb & Boyd

Engineer - Civil

Carter & Sloope Inc.

Engineer - Structural

KSI Structural Engineers

Landscape Architect

Carter & Sloope Inc.

Supplier - Air Handlers

Racan Carrier

Supplier - Autoclaves

PRIMUS Sterilizer Co., LLC

Supplier - Biosafety Cabinets

NUAIRE Inc.

Supplier - Building Automation Controls

Siemens Building Technologies

Supplier - Casework

Jamestown Metal Products

Supplier - Ceiling

Carboline

Supplier - Fume Hoods

Jamestown Metal Products

Supplier - Glasswasher/Dryer

Miele

Supplier - Glovebox

GERMFREE

Profile Created 09/24/2008

Last Updated 09/17/2008

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

Lab Interior

Fig. 3

Office Space

Fig. 4

Training Office

Fig. 5

Training Lab