Photo courtesy of HDR Architecture Inc., Photographer Steve Hall (c) Hedrich Blessing

The BNC consists of two wings with the front half dedicated to general labs and offices. The labs feature specialized environments to control vibration, noise, temperature, humidity, and electromagnetic interference. Although some of the nanostructure labs are situated on a basic slab, two high-accuracy rooms have a keeled slab underneath a walk-on floor that is suspended on air springs for optimum vibration control. The high-accuracy rooms also have special control systems to maintain temperature within 0.1 degree C. to avoid heat fluctuations that could cause materials to expand or contract.

The back half of the center features a 25,000-sf cleanroom containing a series of labs that are rated progressively higher based on the number of particles in each cubic foot of air. The "cleanest" lab contains less than 10 particles the size of a micron per cubic foot of air. Clean air is continually driven into the labs and then recirculated through filters to provide an unpolluted environment. Each cleanroom lab has a separate entrance and gowning area for researchers.

The cleanroom, located on the second floor, is supported by a sub-fab area beneath it. The sub-fab serves as a mechanical area for the de-ionized water system, vacuum pumps, exhaust, drains, and specialty gases. Utilities can be placed in the sub-fab, freeing up space and providing flexibility to reconfigure the cleanroom to accommodate equipment installation and future changes in processes.

Situated in the corner of the main cleanroom is the biological cleanroom where a germ-free environment is essential to bio-nano research entailing molecules and organisms. The bio-cleanroom, which uses biosafety hoods to contain BSL-2 pathogens, requires a sterile environment free of particles. It is isolated from pumps, motors, and equipment that emit gases, oil particles, and other contaminants. Researchers from the biological cleanroom and the main nanofabrication cleanroom are able to collaborate on experiments by using double-sided glove boxes shared by both labs.

Many of the labs are positioned on each side of a central service corridor and contain overhead utility carriers, modular casework, and moveable furniture. The labs can be easily reconfigured to accommodate large pieces of equipment, including the x-ray photoemission spectrometer and field-emission scanning electron microscope.

Interaction areas are located throughout the BNC, including 12 conferences rooms, several of which can seat up to 40 people, and the atrium and commons area located at the intersection of the front wing of the building and the back cleanroom.

The BNC is the first completed building in a new complex called Discovery Park on the southwest edge of the West Lafayette, Ind., campus. University officials envision Discovery Park as a research hub where multiple disciplines converge to generate new ideas and produce world-class discoveries.

Other projects at Discovery Park include the Bindley Bioscience Center, which focuses on research in biology and engineering, and is connected to the BNC via a second-floor walkway. Located next to Bindley is the Burton Morgan Entrepreneurship Center. Still in the planning stages are the Discovery Learning Center, which will focus on developing new ways to educate individuals in the interdisciplinary fields; and the E-Enterprises Center to study e-commerce and long-distance interactions.

Project Information
Building Owner:		Purdue University
Building Location:		West Lafayette, Indiana UNITED STATES
Project Type:		New Construction
Principal Building Function:		Nanotechnology research
Project Delivery Method:		General Contractor
Project Timeline		Sep 2001 Planning Start Jan 2002 Design Start Jul 2003 Construction Start Sep 2005 Completion Last known status: Completed
Project Cost:		$58,000,000
Construction Cost:		$47,420,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$260
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Biology Cleanroom Education Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory Laboratory: Nanotechnology Research
Total GSF:		183,000
Project Team
Architect		HDR Architecture Inc.
Architect - Design		HDR Architecture Inc.
Consultant - Accoustical		Colin Gordon & Associates
Consultant - EMI		Vitetta
Consultant - Programming		HDR Architecture Inc.
Consultant - RF Shielding		VitaTech Engineering
Consultant - Vibration		Colin Gordon & Associates
Profile Created 03/29/2006
Last Updated 04/04/2006
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.

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