The 96,000-sf, four-story TRF includes an 8,063-sf vivarium, and 35,001 sf of research laboratories that currently house 33 principal investigators and their staff for a total of 231 occupants. The TRF is home to interdisciplinary researchers from the University's Stem Cell Institute, the Center for Infectious Disease and Microbiology Translational Research, and the College of Pharmacy's Orphan Drug Center devoted to the study of specialty drugs for treating rare conditions.

Lab casework is completely modular, movable, and flexible. All of the benches, utility services, and desks can be moved so they can easily be reconfigured.  Since the benches in the TRF are completely moveable, services are no longer hard-piped to the bench but drop from the ceiling using quick-connect fittings therby providing maximum flexibility for power, data, and utilities.

To accommodate the Stem Cell Institute, many of the benches were removed from the Institute's 17,500 square feet of space and tissue culture hoods and incubators were readily installed in their place without disrupting adjacent research operations. The building's inherent flexibility made this change easy to accomplish.

The facility also provides 'bullpens' for research staff work areas in addition to some seating in the labs. Lab 'team rooms' and conference facilities are on each floor. Conference rooms are equipped for remote video conferencing. Each lab unit has a 120 sf alcove that is equipped with fume hoods or biosafety cabinets, shared equipment, microscopes and dark room capabilities to provide for research activities that cannot take place at the benches. In addition each floor is equipped with two environmental rooms and numerous equipment rooms. A linear equipment room/corridor is located between the open lab areas and the alcoves providing ready access between lab and shared alcove areas.

Project Information
Building Owner:		University of Minnesota
Building Location:		Minneapolis, Minnesota UNITED STATES
Project Type:		New Construction
Principal Building Function:		Translational research
Project Delivery Method:		Construction Management
Project Timeline		Dec 2001 Planning Start Sep 2002 Design Start Feb 2004 Construction Start Jun 2005 Completion Last known status: Completed
Project Cost:		$37,000,000
Construction Cost:		$29,000,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$300
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Biomedical Education Education: Biomedical Education: Chemistry Education: Lecture Or Seminar Hall Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory Laboratory: Biomedical Research Laboratory: Research Vivarium
Total GSF:		96,000
Total NSF:		56,804
Efficiency:		59%
Building Population:		231
Project Team
Architect		Perkins+Will
Consultant - Fire Protection		Affiliated Engineers Inc. (AEI)
Consultant - Telecommunications		Shen, Milson & Wilke Associates
Engineer - Electrical		Affiliated Engineers Inc. (AEI)
Engineer - Mechanical		Affiliated Engineers Inc. (AEI)
Laboratory Planner		Perkins+Will
Supplier - Casework		Fisher Hamilton
Supplier - Fume Hoods		Fisher Hamilton
Profile Created 04/05/2006
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.