The laboratory portion of the building is constructed of reinforced concrete while the atrium is constructed of structural steel with steel beams, girders, and columns supporting a steel deck. Office and support space includes administrative offices, open office, conference rooms, computer and electrical shops, and building support. Graduate student office space associated with the laboratories/cleanroom space are located as close to their respective laboratories as possible.

Dedicated imaging rooms on the first floor house scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The second and third floors house mainly laboratory and office space for faculty and graduate students. The main electrical room is in the basement.

The building design provides flexibility to keep pace with the rapid changes in the nature of research and instruction, grant funding cycles, and the appointment of new researchers. It provides the ability to readily convert and renovate space, with a minimum of disruption. As changes in use are called for by new researchers, research direction, or organization; workstations can be relocated, doors moved, and rooms expanded into larger rooms or contracted into several smaller rooms without requiring reconstruction of structural or building services.

Although faculty members might have access to desks within the student are when necessary, Duffield Hall does not include true faculty office space. Instead, Cornell made the strategic decision to leave all faculty offices in their respective departments and buildings around campus.

An important requirement of the design was to create an environment that would foster and promote interaction among all disciplines of the College of Engineering. The site, at the east edge of the Engineering Quadrangle in close proximity to existing laboratories, is ideal for encouraging such interaction. The building provides spaces for casual interaction in or near common facilities such as stairs, alcoves, and conference rooms. The building also provides visibility for researchers to see colleagues moving from laboratory to offices through the atrium space. The atrium includes collaboration spaces with comfortable furniture, ample power, data connections, and white boards for documenting ideas.

Project Information
Building Owner:		Cornell University
Owner Contact:		Peter Karp, AIA, University Architect
Building Location:		Ithaca, NY UNITED STATES
Project Type:		New Construction
Principal Building Function:		Nanotechnology Research Center
Project Timeline		Jun 1997 Planning Start Jan 1999 Design Start Feb 2001 Construction Start Aug 2004 Completion Last known status: Completed
Project Cost:		$58,500,000
Construction Cost:		$34,200,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$219
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Cleanroom Computers Conference Room Education Education: Administration Education: Faculty Office Engineering Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory Laboratory: Nanotechnology Laboratory: Research Laboratory: Teaching Office Office: Researcher Research
Total GSF:		150,930
Total NSF:		57,610
Efficiency:		46%
Building Services:		Exotic gas controls, Class 1000 cleanrooms
Office Size:		Cubicle-60; Office-121 NSF
Power Req:		Office: 4 w/sf; Labs: 15 w/sf; Cleanrooms: 30 w/sf; All other areas: 2 w/sf
HVAC Req:		Recirculation (cleanrooms) 22.5 cfm/nsf; Make-up 4 cfm/nsf; Laboratories 3 cfm/nsf
Structure/Foundation:		Cast-in-place concrete and steel moment frame with concrete spread footings and caissons
Laboratory Parameters
Lab Module:		10' 6
Casework Mat'l:		Metal casework tops will be epoxy in heavy chemical areas and around sinks; plastic laminate in lower chemical use areas
Fume Hoods:		Nine at 4'; nine at 5'; 19 at 6'; one at 8'
Biosafety Cabinets:		Owner Furnished Class II Type A/B3; three @ 4' and 6' @ 8' semi-wet stations
Project Team
Architect		Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP
Builder		McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
Profile Created 04/13/2005
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.