Latest Reports

The three-story International Vaccine Centre (InterVac) at the University of Saskatchewan is one of the largest vaccine research centers in the world and the largest in North America. It is connected by a walkway to the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) laboratory building in a cluster of life sciences R&D facilities at the University. The facilities operate together as VIDO-InterVac, one of only a few BSL-3 facilities in the world that can accommodate disease and vaccine research involving animals as large as cows.

The Clinical Cell and Vaccine Production Facility (CVPF) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is designed to facilitate a bench-to-bedside approach, where the clinical materials to treat disease are manufactured and administered within the hospital using cells from the patient’s own body. The project has achieved international recognition for its unique potential for optimizing patient care and for its success treating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and cancer.

The seven-story Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility on the UCSD Health Sciences campus includes wet labs, open lab space, lab support, and administrative support space on five stories above ground; with a vivarium; core lab space; support; and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in the basement. Seven stories of attached administrative office space, interaction spaces and conference rooms are linked by a cast-in-place concrete staircase that climbs seven stories up through the open lobby, and one story down.

The new home for the School of Nursing on Yale University’s West Campus creates a state-of-the-art facility that supports an increase in the school’s class size beyond 350 students. The project accommodates all of the nursing school’s programs, including teaching, research, and administrative spaces, which had outgrown their prior home at the Medical Campus.

Regulatory requirements for using directional airflow as the primary method of containment in BSL-3 labs is a simple concept, however the engineering and controls required for today’s facilities present an array of challenges when it comes to conducting “failure scenario” tests during commissioning and shutdown, and startup procedures during normal operations. Maintaining collaboration between the occupants, an experienced architect, and an objective third-party commissioning partner while designing or redesigning a BSL-3 lab can prevent costly delays and complications.