Research & Development

to establish a distinct volume and provide
the required structural module.

Arranging the labs in “neighborhoods” around the atrium increased the complexity of the project. The lab fronts were made transparent, but met the necessary requirements to fulfill control zone, fire rating and smoke control needs. Cantilevered pods, intended to house collaborative meetings, extend out into the atrium. Two sides of the lab were glazed in order to offer the maximum amount of transparency and light, and to allow its inhabitants to see from one end of the building to the other.

Vibration performance of the labs was 2,000 mips to 4,000 mips. In order to accommodate these requirements, detailed analytical models were employed to create vibration maps that visualized the anticipated vibration performance. The Institute and engineering team worked together to tune the structural system in order to create the best performance for their needs without sacrificing structural depth and flexibility.

Sustainability features included in the building are reduced energy consumption, radiant panel ceiling, data center heat recapture, chilled beams for cooling and a fly wheel back-up battery system— an emergency power and battery storage system necessary to guarantee uninterrupted usage of data center servers.

“This is one of the projects you feel privileged to work on in your career,” said Kornovich. “It pushed me as planner, a designer and a creator of scientific work places. It created a new paradigm in how architecture can support the scientific behavior that will change the world.”

The team tasked with renovating the Integrative Biosciences Center (IBio) at Wayne State University found themselves faced with a monumental task—to transform a 1920s auto dealership into a state-of-the-art facility that would draw in bright young researchers and innovators who could sufficiently target medical issues that affected the Detroit region’s racial and socioeconomic groups. And, in order for WSU to procure

$30M in Michigan state funding, the team
had to complete their programming and
schematic planning within five weeks.
Architecture firm Harley Ellis De-
vereaux of Southfield, Mich., began to
develop a program and schematic design
for a new multidisciplinary biomedical
research facility that re-shapes the way
science approaches urban health issues.

“Adapting the building for lab use … was a huge challenge,” said Mark Hartmann, Lab Planner. “The building was structurally unsuited to lab planning, with a host of existing conditions in desperate need of correction or repair. Portions of the original