The 193,000-gsf facility has created 90 new laboratories with related workspaces and support areas. Major research functions housed in the new facility include Process Development and Regulatory Sciences. Building S315, also known as Optimization and Process Development #1 (OPD1), is part of the SHRC campus which covers 535 acres and includes 1,200 personnel, 45 buildings, and 21 greenhouses serving four major DuPont businesses: agricultural crop protection, nutrition and health, pharmaceutical, and corporate toxicology.

Offices for OPD1's 172 associate researchers are located directly in front of their respective primary labs, giving them greater autonomy as well as an increased sense of responsibility for their lab and the research conducted therein. The 103 principal investigators are located on the outside edge of the neighborhoods creating a more interdependent relationship among the PI teams. Space is also provided for 37 supervisors and related personnel.

Team preparation and planning was key to DuPont's ability to move 234 employees in just 10 weeks. This effort represents the single largest laboratory move in the history of DuPont. A Core Move Team was commissioned to work with the Project Construction Team early on in the process. Four Sub-Teams were then formed based on task. To facilitate each move, the Core Team set the activities of each Sub-Team. For example, while still in their original location, Sub-Teams would process through assignments, such as fume hood decontamination and asset management, ensuring that only necessary and currently used equipment made the move. Using this task-team approach, more than 65 employees systematically moved 15 labs, including equipment, and up to 45 people each week. The moving expenses and costs related to returning previous labs to an acceptable condition for other DuPont businesses amounted to only $750,000.

Designed on a modular basis, the laboratories maximize flexibility to accommodate varying research functions and bench configurations. The labs serve as an anchor to the "neighborhoods" found throughout the facility. To promote the sense of community, principal investigators, associate offices, and related support offices are clustered together and are adjacent to their related laboratories. These open work environments are situated along high traffic areas linking together neighborhoods, encouraging a collaborative work style, and de-emphasizing an organizational hierarchy.

A dual-fed service corridor, bisecting the entire facility, houses exhaust ductwork and laboratory service piping, electrical distribution, and waste piping. Maintenance access via the corridor greatly reduces the need to access the labs directly and enhances safety. Each laboratory has a designated control panel so there is no confusion in identifying a problem. The labs contain approximately 2,200 lineal feet of fume hoods in lengths ranging from 10' to 16'. Specific laboratory safety elements include multiple means of egress, avoidance of dead-end laboratory aisles, eyewash and safety showers, extensive views within the lab environment, and discrete storage of chemicals.

Power is delivered to the lab benches via multi-outleted raceways. Energy efficient HVAC and lighting design, plus effective use of natural light via a lot of glass, are some of the energy saving features of the new building. A strong computer networking backbone provides fiber optic ATM with redundant pathways and Gigaspeed certified copper to every data/telecom port in the facility. External communications with global sites can be facilitated via videoconferencing over IP, which can originate from any port in the building, not just one fixed videoconferencing room.

A 30,000-sf penthouse contains seven air handlers, exhaust fans, air compressors, vacuum pumps, and elevator machine rooms. Three 850-ton chillers are placed on an isolated concrete pad to prevent sound and vibration from affecting the lab and office areas.

A two-and-one-half-story atrium is considered the "heart" of the facility. Building entrances feed into this space and public and private corridors branch off the atrium. Meeting rooms, an open library, casual seating areas, a 75-seat lunchroom, and a 150-seat auditorium surround the atrium. Smaller conference rooms, break areas, and interaction areas are scattered throughout the facility, further promoting research interaction.

Throughout the building are strategically located "hot desks," spaces where visitors and personnel in-between meetings can quickly and conveniently access information. The desks are fully equipped with voice, network, and Internet/intranet access. The desks are situated in high traffic areas including the main lobby, the secondary entrance, outside the main lunchroom, and in various interaction areas.

Building S315 is the winner of the 2000 Construction Excellence Award sponsored by the State of Delaware.

Project Information
Building Owner:		E.I. DuPont de Nemours
Owner Contact:		Harold (Jay) Steimer, Senior Project Manager
Building Location:		Newark, Del. UNITED STATES
Project Type:		New Construction
Principal Building Function:		Research and Development
Project Delivery Method:		Design/Build
Project Timeline		Mar 1997 Planning Start Apr 1997 Design Start Mar 1998 Construction Start Mar 2000 Target Completion
Project Cost:		$61,700,000
Construction Cost:		$51,000,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$264
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Laboratory: Research R&D
Total GSF:		193,000
Total NSF:		97,000
Efficiency:		52%
Building Population:		312
People Density:		618 gsf/person
Special Equip:		NMR
Office Size:		100 NSF
Power Req:		Lighting: 3.16 w/nsf Mechanical: 21.24 w/nsf Lab electrical power: 12.12 w/nsf
HVAC Req:		2.80 cfm/nsf
Structure/Foundation:		Steel frame, pre-cast concrete, metal siding
Laboratory Parameters
Lab Module:		10' 9" x 25' 6"
Casework Mat'l:		Metal laboratory casework with molded epoxy resin tops
Fume Hoods:		10', 12', and 16'
Project Team
Consultant - Civil Engineer		Pennoni Associates
Supplier - NMR		Varian Inc.
Profile Created 08/09/2001
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.