(Photo courtesy of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott.)

The three-story, vertical addition provides space for the Center's clinical, research, and administration functions to be housed in one building, facilitating strategies for the treatment and cure of cancer. The additional floors layer wet lab and dry lab research on top of the doctors' offices and clinical space. Patient care facilities are expanded as physician offices are moved from Level 3 to Level 4. Researchers now have easier access to the interdisciplinary clinics on Levels 2, 3, and 4, and to the laboratories and support services in the adjacent Borwell Research Building.

In 1990, the Center, named for U.S. Senator Norris Cotton, R-N.H., achieved designation as Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. Just prior to the renovated Center's occupancy in 2003, the NCI announced the Center's earning another five-year designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, with a recommended doubling of its federal funding to $3.6 million per year.

Office space for physicians and research scientists is on Level 5. Level 8 houses the Center's administration offices and expanded space for cancer prevention and epidemiology researchers. A continuous band of clerestory windows separates the interior walls from the ceilings and allows natural light to flood the workspaces. A mechanical penthouse is at the very top of the facility.

Levels 6 and 7 house labs for researchers focusing on cancer immunology, molecular therapeutics, and cancer mechanisms. Given the 30' x 30' column grid in the original building, studies quickly showed that a 10' lab module worked cleanly with the existing grid. It has also proven to be a successful lab-planning module with positive implications for the effective use of lab space in future projects. The open labs with very few walls create neighborhoods and facilitate interaction among the researchers. However, within the open areas, careful attention was given to the users' sense of territory—the spatial dimensions with discernable physical definition that feel comfortable to occupants. Flexibility is enhanced by modular benches that are height-adjustable and moveable. Services requiring fixed locations (i.e. sinks) are located at the bench ends. Support alcoves house sensitive equipment and tissue culture rooms. Whiteboards, glass-walled break rooms, communal spaces, and conference rooms encourage interaction. A spiral staircase links the labs on Levels 6 and 7.

The simple and effective use of color, form and light to engage, stimulate and orient the user within the laboratory environment.

The lab floors and Level 8 (offices) overlook a three-story atrium that links the multi-disciplinary space to provide a unified identity for research and to enable the floors to function together as a single unit. Afternoon tea, natural lighting and comfortable seating, and conference rooms draw researchers from their labs to this space where the expansive, glazed curtain wall offers views of the Connecticut River Valley hills and the rest of the DHMC complex.

"The new facility has had an immediate impact, providing a beautiful and energized environment for interaction and collaboration," says Cancer Center Director Dr. Mark Israel. "The expansion of our facilities has brought about a fundamental change in the way we operate. The building is a winner."

Project Information
Building Owner:		Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Owner Contact:		Mark A. Israel, M.D., Director
Building Location:		Lebanon, N.H. UNITED STATES
Project Type:		Expansion,Renovation
Principal Building Function:		Cancer Research Laboratories
Project Delivery Method:		Guaranteed Maximum Price
Project Timeline		Sep 2003 Completion Last known status: Completed
Construction Cost:		$33,000,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$275
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Atrium Biochemistry Biomedical Chemistry Conference Room Education Education: Biology Education: Chemistry Healthcare Healthcare: Cancer Center Healthcare: Medical School Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory Laboratory: Dry And Wet Laboratory: Research Office Office: Researcher Research
Total GSF:		120,000
Efficiency:		80%
Building Population:		266
People Density:		1430 gsf/person
Office Size:		183 NSF
Structure/Foundation:		Original building is braced-frame steel with concrete spread footings over which was built the vertical addition with a moment connection.
Laboratory Parameters
Lab Module:		10'
Project Team
Architect		Shepley Bulfinch
Builder		McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
Consultant - Engineer		BR+A/Bard,Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers Inc.
Consultant - Laboratory Planner		Shepley Bulfinch
Supplier - Casework		Mid Canada Millwork Ltd.
Supplier - Environmental Enclosures		Harris Environmental Systems
Supplier - Laboratory Fixtures		Chicago Faucets
Supplier - Laboratory Furniture		Steelcase Corporate Industries
Profile Created 04/20/2005
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.

We welcome your Questions and Comments

Copyright 2008 Tradeline Inc.
All Rights Reserved
ISSN: 1096-4894