Chiron Life Sciences Center

Phase I of the 30-year development plan began in 1999, and includes a 260,000-sf lab building and central utility plant. The laboratory incorporates a philosophy of business group integration. The first level of high-bay space includes building mechanicals, specialized lab space and offices, allowing business groups to support the efforts of researchers. The next three levels include labs designed to maximize exterior light, as well as flexibility to adapt to the diverse needs of business groups. These labs are located around interior courtyards and atria to facilitate interaction, demonstrating the owner's commitment to the social aspects of science as well as the technical.

Laboratory types include microbiology, biochemistry, chemistry, bio-organic/biophysics, robotics and support, including tissue culture, nuclear magnetic resonance, and isotope. The BSL-3 suite is designed to be flexible enough to accommodate a variety of types and uses of BSL-3 level pathogens and is designed for both bacterial and viral work.

Chiron’s Life Sciences building received R&D Magazine’s Lab of the Year award in 1999.

Project Information

Building Owner:

Chiron Corporation

Building Location:

Emeryville, CA UNITED STATES

Project Type:

New Construction

Principal Building Function:

Biotechnology research

Project Delivery Method:

Fast Track

Project Timeline

Oct 1994	Planning Start
Oct 1994	Design Start
Sep 1996	Construction Start
Jun 1998	Completion
Last known status: Completed

Construction Cost:

$102,000,000

Cost Per Sq. Ft:

$358

About These Cost Figures

Building Information

Project Includes:

Atrium
Biochemistry
Biocontainment
Biotechnology
Chemistry
Interdisciplinary Research
Laboratory
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Office
Pharmacology

Total GSF:

285,000

Project Team

Architect

Flad Architects

Builder

Rudolph and Sletten Inc.

Engineer - MEP

Affiliated Engineers Inc. (AEI)

Laboratory Planner

Flad Architects

Profile Created 02/02/2007

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.

Fig. 1

Atrium

Fig. 2

Lab Interior

Fig. 3

Lounge