Now in its 52nd year, the Laboratory of the Year Awards continue to recognize excellence in research laboratory design, planning and construction. This annual international competition receives entries from the best new and renovated laboratories. Eligible projects represent a wide
variety of laboratory types, including research, quality assurance/control, teaching,
software development, environmental, clinical, forensic, and testing and standards.
Judging for this year’s competition was conducted by a blue-ribbon panel of
laboratory architects, engineers, equipment manufacturers, researchers and the
editorial staff of R&D Magazine and Laboratory Design.
This year’s 2018 Laboratory of the Year was CJ Blossom Park of Suwon, South Korea,
which was submitted by CannonDesign. Also recognized as Laboratory of the Year
Special Mention was the Aerospace and Engineering Sciences Building, Metropolitan
State University of Denver, which was submitted by Anderson Mason Dale Architects.
The project teams were honored during the Laboratory Design Conference, held April
23-25, 2018, at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel in Philadelphia, PA.
for its architecture from CJ’s own brand
identity, a three-petal flower representing
its three distinct science divisions. Each
of the divisions is housed in its own
respective tower, and the three towers
are built around a sunlight-filled central
atrium where employees can meet to
collaborate and socialize. The design team
used advanced barometric monitoring to
study the movement of the sun around the
building to maximize daylight.
Mehrdad Yazdani, Design Principal,
Director of Yazdani Studio at
CannonDesign, was the submitting architect
for the Laboratory of the Year entry. “While
the building occupies a prominent site
along a major boulevard in Suwon, it is also
adjacent to a park providing views of trees
and a landscaped hillside. Our team set out
to design a facility that was truly responsive
to its environment and took advantage of the
unique attributes of the site. The resulting
building’s massing and form creates an
iconic presence along the boulevard, while
its façade design maximizes daylighting and
views for its occupants.”
“Creating this building became a very
interactive design process. Our team worked
in close collaboration with not only CJ’s
The “Water Garden” at CJ Blossom Park
brings a nature element into the building.
Credit: Christopher Barrett Photography
CJ Blossom Park’s three-petal flower design represents not only the
company’s three previously separate
businesses, but the idea of delivering health,
happiness and convenience to its customers.
South Korean conglomerate CJ
Corporation was on a mission to combine
its distinct pharmaceutical, biotechnology,
and food products businesses into a single
location in order to increase both
efficiency and global competitiveness.
The company turned to CannonDesign
to develop CJ Blossom Park, its 1.2
million gross square foot research and
development headquarters in Suwon.
Completed in March 2017 at a total
construction cost of $608 million, CJ
Blossom Park takes the inspiration
CJ Blossom Park
Named Laboratory
of the Year, MSU
Denver receives
Special Mention
By MaryBeth DiDonna
Editor, Laboratory Design
2018 Laboratory Year Awards of the
Science without stress
CJ Blossom Park wins 2018 Laboratory of the Year
C
O
V
E
R
P
H
OT
O:
E
X
T
E
R
IO
R
V
I
E
WOF
C
JBL
OS
SO
M
PA
R
K
.
C
R
E
DI
T:T
IM
G
R
IF
F
IT
HP
H
OT
O
G
R
A
PH
Y
