With a hands-on approach, the design team partnered with the university and its researchers to understand the unique ways in which researchers work and the ambitious goals of the University for this Institute. From these experiences, the team created a simple, elegant, flexible, functional floor plan that allows for maximum transdisciplinary collaboration and future expansion.

The Biodesign Institute’s 350,000-sf complex currently comprises two buildings: Building A, to the south, and Building B, to the north. The two interconnected buildings are mirror images of each other with the first through third floors of both buildings housing open research labs, support spaces, auditoriums, and offices. Glass-walled laboratories and office space offer transparent views of each other and the atrium that separates them. This design encourages researchers to cross public spaces, which provides ample opportunities for impromptu meetings in the spacious hallways and stairwells.

The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University is focused on innovations that improve healthcare, provide renewable sources of energy and clean our environment, outpace the global threat of infectious disease, and enhance national security. Using a team approach that converges the biosciences with nanoscale engineering and advanced computing, the goal is to find solutions to complex global challenges and accelerate these discoveries to market. The Institute also educates future scientists by providing hands-on laboratory research for more than 250 students per semester.

The facility was designed and built to meet the most stringent demands posed by experimental programs; to enhance communication and collaboration between researchers with an open, shared lab design and a central atrium linking all floors; to be flexible in allowing for rapid reconfiguration of space and equipment to meet the changing demands of the research programs; and to be a hub providing the linkage between the Institute’s multidisciplinary research groups, international industry, and other research institutions.

The 174,000-sf Building B is comprised of high-tech laboratories with benches set in 11-foot modules. This includes BSL-2 and BSL-3 containment and animal research areas—as well as support facilities and light-filled office areas. The nearly 600 employees, faculty, and students who work in the two-building complex benefit from the enormous amounts of daylight in offices and laboratories that evoke a sense of well being throughout the day. The building integrates utilities in a central location along the west side, enabling the labs to be updated and changed at any time.

Building B received LEED platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Environmentally friendly features range from site and urban planning to interior finishes. The facility entry is near the region’s new light-rail station set to open in 2008. Overall the project exceeded LEED criteria for use of recycled materials, at 15 percent, including aluminum ceiling panels, recycled-content carpet, and rubber stairwell flooring. A construction waste management plan reduced landfill construction waste by more than 60 percent.

Project Information
Building Owner:		Arizona State University
Building Location:		Tempe, Arizona UNITED STATES
Project Type:		New Construction
Principal Building Function:		Interdisciplinary biosciences research building
Project Delivery Method:		Fast Track
Project Timeline		Oct 2003 Planning Start Oct 2003 Design Start Feb 2004 Construction Start Nov 2005 Completion Last known status: Completed
Construction Cost:		$56,937,394
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$316
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Biocontainment Biology Biomedical Biotechnology Chemistry Cleanroom Education Healthcare Laboratory Vivarium
Total GSF:		174,373
Building Population:		600
Project Team
Profile Created 08/22/2007
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.