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Photo courtesy of SmithGroup and Timothy Hursley, Photographer.

Broad Center for the Biological Sciences


Published March 2004

The California Institute of Technology recently opened its first new building of the 21st Century. The Broad Center for the Biological Sciences is a $61-million facility that houses up to 13 research groups ranging in disciplines from biology and chemistry to engineering, each focusing on the biological sciences.

The 120,000-sf building consists of three floors above ground and two below. A 9,500-sf MRI suite is located on the basement level and currently houses three magnets including one large enough to view the human brain. Two electron microscopes in a 2,000-sf EM suite and a glasswash/media prep area of 2,200 sf are also on the basement level. The sub-basement houses a 16,700-sf non-barrier vivarium. The area contains a BSL-2+ holding room and automatic watering and bottle filling systems.

Computational biology, a 95-seat auditorium, and an "indoor/outdoor" café are on the first floor. Wireless networking is available at the Broad Café, the courtyard, and grassy area immediately adjacent to it. Behavioral biology is on the second floor and the third floor houses structural biology. Each floor contains a conference room, lounge and library areas supported by kitchenettes, casual meeting rooms, interactive areas, and lab support and office areas. The ratio of lab space to lab support space in the Broad Center is one-to-one.

The 10' x 26' lab modules are designed with the latest modular equipment to allow the greatest amount of flexibility when rearranging labs and offices for future use at a minimal cost. Designed to be the most secure building on campus, building and lab access is monitored via a card reader system.

Project Information
Building Owner: California Institute of Technology
Owner Contact: Bill Irwin, Director of Facilities Management
Building Location: Pasadena, CA UNITED STATES
Project Type: New Construction
Principal Building Function: Biological Science Research
Project Delivery Method: Guaranteed Maximum Price
Project Timeline
Jan 1999Planning Start
Nov 1999Design Start
Oct 2000Construction Start
Sep 2002Completion
Last known status: Completed
Project Cost: $61,000,000
Construction Cost: $47,000,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft: $392
About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes: Auditorium
Biochemistry
Biology
Biomedical
Biotechnology
Cafeteria
Chemistry
Education
Education: Biology
Education: Chemistry
Education: Lecture Or Seminar Hall
Engineering
Laboratory
Laboratory: Biomedical Research
Laboratory: Chemistry
Laboratory: Research
Laboratory: Teaching
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Office: Researcher
Research
Total GSF: 120,000
Total NSF: 74,700
Efficiency: 62%
Building Population: 257
People Density: 398 gsf/person
Building Services: Vacuum, water, DI water, compressed air, natural gas
Special Equip: Human 3T Development Magnet; 9.4T Rodent Development Magnet; 4.7 Vertical Bore Development Magnet; Electron Microscope; Kryoelectron Microscope
Office Size: 200 NSF
Power Req: 33 watts/nsf
HVAC Req: Variable air volume supply and exhaust with 100% exhaust form the laboratory and vivarium areas
Structure/Foundation: Concentrically braced steel frame
Laboratory Parameters
Lab Module: 10' x 26'
Casework Mat'l: Clear maple cabinets; Black epoxy countertops
Fume Hoods: 23 @ 5'
Biosafety Cabinets: 24 cabinets
Project Team
Builder Rudolph and Sletten Inc.
Consultant - Cost Analysis Davis Langdon Adamson
Supplier - Windows Viracon
Profile Created 03/17/2004
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.
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Interaction Space

To promote interdisciplinary exchanges between researchers, the Broad Center's lab-to-interaction space ratio is a generous 2.5 to 1. Lounge and library areas like this one on the third floor of are supported by kitchenettes. (Photo courtesy of SmithGroup and Timothy Hursley, Photographer.)




Broad Center Exclusive Report

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