Photo courtesy of CO Architects, Lara Swimmer Photography, Seattle

The building is separated into two adjoining and connected wings; one serves the Department of Bioengineering, and the other, the Department of Genome Sciences. The building forms the western edge of a new quadrangle fronting the Health Sciences Campus, creating a landscaped vista that visually connects the historic central campus with Portage Bay. A main entrance between the wings forms a portal leading to the quadrangle and the University Medical Center.

Bioengineering consolidates and expands undergraduate teaching and graduate research programs to be accommodated in 110,000 gsf of wet laboratories, support spaces, computer laboratories, offices, and meeting rooms. Genome Sciences accommodates research activities in human genetics in 115,000 gsf of interchangeable wet and computational team-based research space, support spaces, offices, and meeting rooms. Shared spaces and general university facilities include a 200-seat auditorium, a café and noodle bar, and underground servicing.

Both wings follow a similar plan organization, with laboratories located along the nearby streets and faculty offices facing the landscaped quadrangle. Both have a similar layout for infrastructure and use the same types of equipment to reduce maintenance costs and allow systems interoperability. Laboratories were designed to accommodate the differing methods of research of the two departments.

Bioengineering research is an interdisciplinary pursuit that often relies upon several types of research modalities or disciplines to investigate a singularly focused scientific problem. Therefore, the laboratories are capable of supporting a wide range of scientific methods, a broad array of technically demanding equipment, and provide specialized and adaptable support laboratory space. Laboratories are dedicated for each investigator and organized into suites surrounded by their adjunct support spaces. Each suite is provided with a robust infrastructure to support a variety of multi-disciplinary activities such as tissue culture, microscopy, lasers, specialized instrumentation, and cold rooms. Office spaces are grouped together in suites in order to share office and research resources and to encourage interaction.

While Genome Sciences can also be considered interdisciplinary, the range of disciplines is much narrower and the lab space does not need to adapt to a large variety of scientific disciplines. It requires flexibility to change within a narrower range of functionality, essentially between bench-based procedures and computational processes. This determined a loft-type arrangement in which laboratory zones are serviced strictly from overhead with gases, power, and data; the wet services are limited to the inner wall which defines the boundary of the support zone. This permits the rearrangement of casework. Project investigators are housed in offices within the laboratories. Shared laboratory support functions are located in a long bar adjoining the laboratory zone and contain all the wet functions plus instrumentation rooms, cold rooms, microscopy, etc.

The building is designed to promote and foster community. By virtue of its form and siting, the building creates an internal street that connects three public levels, descending 45' from the campus to the bay, encouraging the university community to be drawn through the building. The building entries, lounges, reading spaces, and an atrium are located along the internal street. Towards the south is a café with an outdoor terrace that offers views of the waterfront and distant mountains.

Project Information
Building Owner:		University of Washington
Building Location:		Seattle, Washington UNITED STATES
Project Type:		New Construction
Principal Building Function:		Bioengineering and genome research institution
Project Delivery Method:		Construction Management
Project Timeline		Jul 2001 Planning Start Jun 2002 Design Start Sep 2003 Construction Start Jul 2006 Completion Last known status: Completed
Project Cost:		$150,000,000
Construction Cost:		$104,650,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$354
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Biochemistry Biology Biomedical Biotechnology Education Genomics Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory Office Vivarium
Total GSF:		296,000
Project Team
Architect		CO Architects
Builder		Hoffman Construction Co.
Consultant - Accoustical		RWDI
Consultant - Vibration		RWDI
Cost Estimator		Davis Langdon Adamson
Engineer - Civil		Andersen Bjornstad Kane Jacobs
Engineer - Electrical		Sparling Inc
Engineer - Mechanical		Notkin Mechanical Engineers
Engineer - Structural		Andersen Bjornstad Kane Jacobs
Laboratory Planner		MBT Architecture
Laboratory Planner		Research Facilities Design (RFD)
Landscape Architect		Site Workshop
Security Specialist		Kroll Schiff & Associates Inc.
Supplier - Air Handlers		Hunt-Air
Supplier - Biosafety Cabinets		The Baker Company
Supplier - Building Automation Controls		Siemens Building Technologies
Supplier - Carpet		Mohawk
Supplier - Casework		Fisher Hamilton
Supplier - Elevators		KONE Inc.
Supplier - Environmental Enclosures		Edstrom Industries Inc.
Supplier - Fume Hood Controls		Siemens Building Technologies
Supplier - Fume Hoods		Fisher Hamilton
Profile Created 03/28/2007
Last Updated 10/12/2007
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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