Cancer Research Centre | Tradeline, Inc.

The 231,000-sf Centre provides for the full spectrum of scientific research, largely in BSL-2 facilities with two specialized BSL-3 areas. Labs include advanced therapeutics, cancer control research, cancer endocrinology, cancer genetics and developmental biology, cancer imaging, a genome sciences center, medical biophysics, molecular oncology, the Terry Fox laboratory, and a transgenic facility in the 20,000-sf vivarium. The building contains 65 fume hoods, 140 bio-safety cabinets, and 600 pieces of specialized equipment.

The BC Cancer Research Centre is really two buildings in one: An office complex with an adjacent research complex, housing 60 principal investigators and 600 research/support staff. The unusual split design came about as an efficient solution to a constrained site and a tight budget.

The lab side of the building contains six stories separated by interstitial floors. The stories measure 22 feet from floor to floor; they would have been 16 feet high without the interstitial space. This extra height allows for twice the amount of office space next door, with two floors of offices for each floor of labs.

That separation between mechanical systems and the labs they serve also contributes to the flexibility of the lab configurations, a critical feature of their design. The floor is concrete and the ceiling is metal decking. The plumbing and electrical and electronic cabling are all in the ceiling, which enables all primary changes in that space to be made without disrupting the research.

In addition, most labs contain identical modules with no walls between them, and are outfitted with moveable furniture; only the benches are fixed. The labs don’t even contain interior walls, but instead open to ghost corridors.

The lab side of the building contains 68 circular, 15-foot-diameter windows which represent the petri dishes that have long been a staple of scientific research. The office side is colorfully paneled in a repeating pattern that mimics the banding pattern of the sixth human chromosome. And the 12-story spiral staircase, visible through an exterior glass column, represents the DNA spiral.

A 2,900-sf, ground-floor library serves more as a resource for patients and the community than for the scientists, who tend to do their literature searches electronically.

Designed to a minimum silver-level LEED rating, the Centre contains many sustainable elements. The recovery chiller generates heat that is used to heat outside air during the spring, fall, and winter. Dual flush toilets, waterless urinals, and low flow faucets reduce building water usage. Windows in the spiral stairwell can be opened to eliminate the need for mechanical cooling.

Project Information

Building Owner:

British Columbia Cancer Agency

Building Location:

Vancouver, British Columbia CANADA

Project Type:

New Construction

Principal Building Function:

Cancer research

Project Timeline

Jan 2005	Completion
Last known status: Completed

Project Cost:

$88,000,000

Cost Per Sq. Ft:

$270

About These Cost Figures

Building Information

Project Includes:

Auditorium
Biochemistry
Biology
Genomics
Healthcare
Healthcare: Cancer Center
Laboratory
Laboratory: Research
Library
Office: Researcher
Research: Biomedical
Vivarium

Total GSF:

231,000

Building Population:

660

Building Services:

N2, compressed air, vacuum, carbon dioxide, natural gas piping system

Special Equip:

600 pieces of specialized equipment

Laboratory Parameters

Lab Module:

3.2 m x 3.2 m

Fume Hoods:

Biosafety Cabinets:

140

Project Team

Architect

IBI Group

Architect

Henriquez Partners Architects

Builder

Ledcor Construction Limited

Engineer - Electrical

R.A. Duff & Associates Inc.

Engineer - Mechanical

Keen Engineering

Engineer - Structural

Glotman Simpson Group

Laboratory Planner

Earl Walls Associates

Landscape Architect

Durante Kreuk Ltd.

Project Management

Stantec Architecture Ltd.

Supplier - Fans

Strobic Air Corporation

Profile Created 09/28/2005

Last Updated 10/18/2006

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.

Fig. 1

Exterior

Fig. 2

Lab Interior

Fig. 3

Lecture Hall