University of North Carolina
The completion of the $42.5-million W. Lowry and Susan S. Caudill Laboratories is part of the University of North Carolina's $205-million Carolina Physical Science Complex, the largest construction project ever undertaken in the University's history. The UNC master plan is intended to create an ideal environment to accommodate the evolving nature of science.

Karp Family Research Labs Uses Modular Design to Facilitate Evolving Research
Lab designers spend a considerable amount of time planning research facilities that will increase scientific collaboration and be adaptable to the ever-changing demands of research. Strategic adjacencies, flexible space, and modular open floorplans are considered crucial for the development of modern labs, but the only way to know if these elements work the way they were intended is to see how they function over time. The Karp Family Research Laboratories at Children's Hospital Boston, which was first occupied in 2003, has proven to be a successful case study in modular flexible lab design.

Using High-Performance Technologies Wisely to Maximize Return on Investment
Energy recovery systems can have a significant impact on the programmatic flexibility of research facilities. Choosing the most effective energy recovery system for each new building or comprehensive renovation is critical to limiting the long-term operating costs and maximizing the return on investment, but it must be done in a manner that ensures it will not curtail the future flexibility of a facility.

Fewer Errors and Potential Changes Reduce Risk for Everyone
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) represents a paradigm shift. IPD's environment brings owners together with architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, fabricators, and suppliers to work collaboratively in making collective design decisions that shape a building. The combined experience and expertise of varied viewpoints improves the knowledge necessary to make choices. These choices occur in a shorter time frame resulting in greater value for the building owner. Errors and potential change orders are reduced for all participants, having the consequent benefit of reducing risk for everyone.

New Fire Ratings for Labs Permit More Cost-Effective Designs
Changes in the International Building Code (IBC) that became effective in 2006 can save building planners significant construction dollars that normally would be spent building higher rated construction types to accommodate hazardous chemicals, specifically flammable liquids. The code revisions allow building planners to reduce fireproofing and floor design costs while maintaining safety and building flexibility, and increasing efficiency. The IBC must be addressed at the beginning of the planning process for maximum benefit, notes Tom Serruto, director of lab design for AECOM.

University of South Florida
The Johnnie B. Byrd, Sr., Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute is the world's largest free-standing Alzheimer's research facility, and signals the completion of the five-year journey to build the $25-million Center that is dedicated to the prevention and cure of this devastating disease that is estimated to affect more than five million Americans.

New Tools and Strategies Available to Analyze Flexibility Options
Flexibility is the critical cornerstone to ensure that research facilities will be able to accommodate future changes involving staffing, equipment, and space. Incorporating flexibility into the design of construction projects makes it easier to adapt to changes that may not occur for many years.

Facility Wins Lab of the Year High Honors for 2007
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute, a shared research facility in Cambridge, Mass., is a successful model for taking research to the next level by using innovative design approaches and a collaborative philosophy.

Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard is a collaboration of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and its affiliated hospitals, and The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. The Broad Institute's mission is to bring the power of genomics to medicine and disseminate its reach to the global scientific community.

Loma Linda University Children's Hospital
Loma Linda University Children's Hospital recently opened an 8,700-sf wing of the hospital's third floor as the new Maternal-Fetal Medicine Diagnostic Treatment and Research Center (MFM), part of the renowned Perinatal Institute at Children's Hospital.

Five Types of Casework to Consider for Varying Laboratory Scenarios
Selecting the most appropriate laboratory furniture system requires due diligence to determine which casework will provide the highest level of functionality, flexibility, and investment value. Today, there are five types, including fixed bench, core, mobile cart, table-based, and custom flexible, all providing varying levels of flexibility at differing costs.

Option Provides Logistical and Economic Benefits
Twenty years ago, the notion of leasing research space was unheard of. Private firms were based on centralized campuses where they invested millions of dollars in facilities they intended to occupy indefinitely. Young biotech companies broke that mold in the 1990s, and the trend has since caught on in the healthcare research industry.

Applied Materials
Applied Materials AKT Division is the world's leading supplier of main equipment for the Flat Panel Display (FPD) industry. Its recognized products include a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Deposition System (PECVD), an Electron Beam Array Tester (EBT), and equipment for the fabrication of color filters.

Applied Biosystems
Phase I of this 960,000-sf life science campus consists of five two- and three-story buildings totaling 660,000 sf and includes a central plant for chilled and heating hot water distribution.

Sun Microsystems
Sun's new "green data centers" encompasses an 180,000-sf remodel in buildings SC11, SC12, and SC14, and includes 82,000 sf of data center upgrades.

Zosano Pharma Inc.
Zosano Pharma recently completed a multi-phased design and construction of its 53,000-sf headquarters facility.

Western Digital
The $20 million expansion of this 21,000-sf disk drive head manufacturing facility was completed in two phases.

University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of Santa Cruz Astrophysics Laboratory Data Center required special mission critical design for 24/7 operations in an area with extremely high heat release load from the databank racks.