Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building in Phoenix, Arizona by CO Architects

Article source: CO Architects

Construction is complete on the tallest addition to the Phoenix Biomedical Campus—the 10-story Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building (BSPB) designed by Los Angeles-based CO Architects with Ayers Saint Gross of Tempe, AZ. Programmed, designed, and constructed in only 27-months, the 245,000-square-foot, $99-million laboratory complex allows University of Arizona research scientists to collaborate with local healthcare providers and private companies to find new medical cures and treatments.

“We will pursue expanded partnerships with industry that we hope will lead to groundbreaking discoveries,” said University of Arizona President Ann Weaver Hart at the building’s dedication ceremony. “This building will allow us to further these efforts, and, ultimately, improve lives.”

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

• Architects: CO Architects
• Project: Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building
• Location: Phoenix, Arizona, USA
• Photography: Bill Timmerman

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

BSPB is located to the north of the Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB)—also designed by the same architect and contractor team—on the University of Arizona’s biomedical research campus in downtown Phoenix. BSPB is funded through bonds paid for largely with state-lottery money and built by Phoenix-based DPR/Sundt Construction, a joint venture.

The award-winning HSEB, with learning facilities and amenities shared by the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine and Northern Arizona University’s Allied Health Program opened in 2012. Its distinctive, copper-clad design draws inspiration from the region’s mountains and canyons.

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

“The architecture of the Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building is similar to that of the Health Sciences Education Building in suggesting Southwestern geology through its horizontal striations and chiseled exterior,” says CO Design Principal Paul Zajfen, FAIA. “We wanted to introduce consistency and a strong sense of identity in this part of the campus by relating the two buildings.”

Similar to the education building, the newer biosciences structure is clad in folded copper panels, but its exterior, through pronounced setbacks and projections, presents a different physical interpretation of the tall, cleft, desert rock formations. Because the same team had conducted extensive studies, computer modeling, and mockups for the copper skin on HSEB, they were able to quickly apply their knowledge to the new building. “The process was easier this time by taking advantage of newer software,” says Arnold Swanborn, AIA, LEED AP, Associate Principal at CO Architects. “Grasshopper and Rhino allowed us to design the undulating copper panels’ complex geometry in record time.”

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

Cantilevered floors extending increasingly outward at the top of the building shade the lower levels. Windows are mostly limited to the north and south sides of the building to control daylight and conserve energy. The space between the paired campus structures is richly landscaped with native desert plantings, such as a canyon floor would be, to create a shady courtyard. A bridge at the third floor connects the two related buildings.

BSPB is organized to encourage collegiality, collaboration, and customization. “This building was programmed and planned before we knew who any of the occupants were, so we designed a general framework of labs, support spaces, and offices,” says Andrew Labov, FAIA, Principal at CO Architects. “The intent was to create an adaptable plan and utility distribution backbone that will be easy to modify when people eventually occupy the spaces and use them for different types of research.”

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

Open offices at the north perimeter take advantage of daylight and views, and are visually connected to the labs currently supporting neurological, cardiovascular, cancer, genomic, and nano-bioscience research. Highly flexible lab support spaces were designed as “wet garages” and are arranged next to the windows on the south side. Mechanical equipment is housed on the windowless east and west ends, rather than on the rooftop, protecting the occupants from the intense Phoenix sun.

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

At the northwest corner of the building, researchers and industry representatives meet on laboratory floors to exchange ideas in glass-enclosed two-story spaces designed with meeting rooms, lounges, and kitchenettes. A sheltering entrance porch on west side of the building faces the central campus green. Extending northward from the portion of the building containing lobbies, café, library, and meeting spaces—nicknamed “The Mixing Bar”—the entrance forms a sunshaded gathering space similar to an outside lobby. A linear gallery connects the lobby to the courtyard, and acts as a pre-function space for a multi-purpose meeting center able to accommodate groups ranging from 50 to 200 persons.

The LEED Silver-certified building institutes various sustainable features, such as copper paneling made of 95% recycled materials, passive orientation, cascade air supply system, chilled beams in labs and open offices, and LED lighting throughout the facility.

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

Image Courtesy © Bill Timmerman

Tags: Arizona, USA

Categories: Building, Campus, Educational Center, Health Center, Health Research centre, Medical Center, Science Centre

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