Built in two phases, MRB III is a nine-story building that wraps the north and east sides of, and extends over the top of, the Learned Lab Building. Renovation of the 85,000-gsf Learned facility occurred in phase two. Focusing on creating a collaborative workplace for neuroscience, the new and renovated portions of Learned Building allow it to function as one research community, linked to the MRB III by a sun-lit, nine-story atrium.

MRB III contains 64 research laboratories, four teaching labs, research support areas, offices, and classrooms. The seventh floor houses an 8,500-gsf greenhouse and an exterior terrace that is used for various staff events, including lunches and social gatherings. Undergraduate biology teaching laboratories are located on the third floor, the campus' ground level. The unfinished ninth floor is already being fitted out with an additional 12 research labs and support areas.

Various conference and break rooms are located throughout the building to facilitate collaboration. The base of the atrium contains tables and seating for students and researchers to meet and socialize. Open break areas at each level of the nine-story atrium contain comfortable chairs, low tables, bulletin boards, book and magazine shelves, and moveable white boards to encourage discussion and interaction. A 118-seat lecture hall is on level one (the building's other main entry level due to the sloped site) with a rear entrance/exit on level two (the main circulation level of the Medical Center.)

The building utilizes a bonded post-tensioned concrete structural system to transfer the structural load of the building over a completely renovated central loading dock that handles two million gsf of Medical Center space and includes research support facilities such as Institutional Safety, Chemical Storage, and Waste/Recycling Equipment. The enclosed loading area is large enough for maneuvering tractor trailers and large compacting dumpsters.

The typical eight-person lab modules have seven-foot benches for each person and two common equipment alcoves. The design matches the project mission, which is to mix similar fields from the Medical School and the College of Arts and Science on each floor. For example, structural biology and biophysics are on level five; neurobiology on level six; ecology and evolution (including the greenhouse) on level seven; and neuroscience on level eight. Alcove areas that can be customized to individual research needs compliment the generic lab design.

The HVAC supply and exhaust fans are in the penthouse. The labs are supplied with 450,000 cfm of preconditioned air that is driven down using three high-velocity, high-pressure fans. Exhaust risers at 44' intervals serve each double lab module, directing the exhaust air through the air-to-air heat recovery units and into vertical variable speed exhaust fans and out through stacks on the roof. Since there is no basement space, the electrical and refrigeration equipment are located in the transfer trusses above the loading dock.

Project Information
Building Owner:		Vanderbilt University
Owner Contact:		Bobby Otten, Project Manager
Building Location:		Nashville, Tenn. UNITED STATES
Project Type:		New Construction,Renovation
Principal Building Function:		Biological Science Teaching and Research, and Medical Research
Project Delivery Method:		Construction Management
Project Timeline		Oct 1998 Planning Start Oct 1998 Design Start Feb 2000 Construction Start Jul 2003 Completion Last known status: Completed
Project Cost:		$95,000,000
Construction Cost:		$78,000,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$223
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Biology Ecology Education: Biology Education: Classroom Education: Lecture Or Seminar Hall Greenhouse Healthcare: Medical School Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory Laboratory: Teaching Office: Administrative
Total GSF:		360,000
Total NSF:		182,500
Efficiency:		51%
Building Population:		800
People Density:		451 gsf/person
Building Services:		DI, compressed air, vacuum, natural gas
Special Equip:		X-ray diffraction suite, proteomic suite, 38 environmental rooms/cold rooms
Office Size:		100 sf to 200 sf; one at 300 sf NSF
Structure/Foundation:		Bonded post-tensioned concrete flat slab with cast in place concrete columns on caissons and spread footing foundations. A bonded post-tensioned transfer truss system provides a column-free area for loading dock and space for main MEP equipment rooms within the transfer truss space.
Laboratory Parameters
Lab Module:		11' x 36' (includes 9' lab alcove)
Casework Mat'l:		Red oak with epoxy tops
Fume Hoods:		71 @ 5'
Biosafety Cabinets:		30
Project Team
Architect		William Wilson Associated Architects Inc.
Profile Created 06/02/2004
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.