Biocontainment

Health Services Laboratories (HSL) is renovating an existing structure known as the Halo building to create its pathology laboratory headquarters in London. Comprising five subterranean levels and ten stories above grade, the 133,000-sf facility will provide a CL3 biocontainment laboratory, specialized research suites, and the largest automated blood sciences lab in the United Kingdom. The contractor for the £21 million fit-out project is ISG.

The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology (KRIBB) broke ground in June of 2016 on the $16 million Support Center for Nonhuman Primates Resources in Jeongeup, South Korea. Located on a 775,000-sf site, the facility will act as a breeding colony for specific pathogen-free nonhuman primates that can be supplied to laboratories for biomedical and pharmaceutical research studies. Completion is expected in late 2017.

The University of Michigan is constructing the $261 million Biological Science Building in Ann Arbor. Designed by SmithGroup JJR and Ennead Architects, the 300,000-gsf facility will provide open, flexible laboratories for collaborative research as well as classrooms, offices, and a vivarium. The building is sited adjacent to the existing Life Sciences Institute to which it will physically connect. The general contractor for the project is Barton Malow Company and completion is expected in 2018.

Plymouth University is constructing the $22 million Derriford Research Facility at Plymouth Science Park in the United Kingdom. Housing advanced biomedical laboratories for the Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, the 25,000-sf project will support clinical collaboration with the adjacent Derriford Hospital for the development of translational therapies. The facility will accommodate research on infectious diseases including Ebola and bovine TB as well as conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's disease, and cancer.

The University of Wyoming began construction in July of 2016 on a $6.21 million renovation of its BSL-3 biocontainment laboratory in Laramie. The facility is being built as a 20,000-sf addition to the Department of Veterinary Sciences facility and will support research on wildlife and livestock diseases including brucellosis, plague, tularemia, and Q fever. The general contractor for the project is Sampson Construction of Cheyenne. Completion is expected in late spring of 2017.

The University of California, Irvine celebrated the official opening of its biosafety training lab in May of 2016. The BSL-3 facility has been designated as an approved instructional center by the National Institutes of Health’s National Biosafety & Biocontainment Training Program. The 1,600-sf lab was constructed in 2015 solely for the purpose of biosafety training and is the first of its kind in the United States.

The Pirbright Institute’s Plowright Building represents a visionary new model for biocontainment lab design that includes offices, conference areas, an atrium, and a cafeteria all within the containment zone, so researchers don’t need to shower in and out multiple times a day. This inverts the traditional approach to biocontainment design by putting people at the center and lab spaces at the perimeter. Researchers enter the building starting in a centralized non-containment zone and work their way toward the perimeter throughout the day, in a one-way flow.

Chapman University broke ground on the $130 million Center for Science and Technology in late April of 2016 in Orange, Calif. Accommodating the Schmid College of Science and Technology and the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, the three-story, 140,000-sf facility will provide advanced teaching and research space for biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, math, computational science, food science, psychology, and health science.

South Dakota State University is building two new large animal research facilities. Construction began in October of 2014 on the $6 million Swine Education and Research Facility, which will include a classroom, boar and sow housing, research space, and a biosecure glass observation area. The $6 million Cow-Calf Education and Research Facility, slated for completion in spring of 2016, will provide offices, laboratory space, conference rooms, livestock evaluation pens, a monoslope research building, and replicated pastures.

The National Veterinary Research Institute has completed commissioning the Bio-Safety Level III Laboratory in Vom, Nigeria. The $2.5 million facility will enhance the Institute's ability to detect, diagnose, and respond to infectious diseases throughout West Africa. The duration of construction for the project, which was created in partnership with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, was three years.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is planning to construct the $45.7 million Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab. The two-story, 67,540-sf project will provide a biosafety laboratory, a meat laboratory, a teaching facility, and faculty offices. An existing structure currently located on the site, the Seed Building, will be demolished to allow the Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab to be built. Construction will begin in July of 2017 with occupancy expected in spring of 2018.

Complex technology, expanding program, and increasingly specialized and segmented roles and responsibilities often create a disconnect in the process of designing and building sophisticated facilities. The result can be a research or diagnostic lab or high-containment animal building that becomes a burden to the owner, whether because it hasn’t been right-sized, is not energy efficient, or operates with sub-par reliability. The solution is to assign someone the task of aligning design decisions with the building’s ultimate scientific mission.

The Royal Centre for Disease Control was dedicated in November of 2015 in Thimbu, Bhutan. The $4.9 million public health laboratory features a BSL-3 research facility built in accordance with the guidelines of the World Health Organization. The secure three-story building will support the detection, study, and prevention of infectious diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, and water-borne pathogens.

The Pirbright Institute’s Plowright Building transforms the standard box-in-a-box bunker-like containment facility into an interactive environment filled with natural light, expansive views through full-height windows, and extensive opportunities for collaboration. Offices, a cafeteria, and a three-story glass atrium all exist within the containment barrier, reducing the number of times researchers need to shower and gown in and out each day.

Construction began in October of 2015 on the $59 million (NZD$87m) National Biocontainment Laboratory in Upper Hutt, New Zealand. Designed by Merrick & Company to meet international biosafety standards, the secure facility will provide advanced labs for infectious disease detection, diagnosis, and response. The completed project will also offer veterinary diagnostics to support international trade assurances of the status of animal diseases. Full operations will commence in 2019.