Collaboration is the Key

The focus of the design for the Institute revolved around the element of collaboration – a key principle of development in science. The building is separated into two main programmatic components: research labs and office and support space. The two components of the facility are housed in separate volumes that are linked by a glass-covered atrium that visually connects the facility to the other institutions of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Support spaces line circulation paths that thread through the atrium between the office and laboratory blocks, creating an environment of interaction among scientists throughout the campus. Connectivity and collaboration is further enhanced, by linking the research building to the City, by fully glazing the eastern wall of the atrium. Additionally, glazing the lab block exposes the inner workings of the research labs to the public.

Collaboration, did not just occur within the building it was occurring as the building was designed as well. In a very quick time frame, the client and our team worked together to achieve and surpass their goals. An initial Charrette produced crude sketches which promptly resulted in the program and the concept for the design. Having the client engaged from the beginning of the process, made them aware of the details and allowed them to clearly understand the concept.

Working with our lab planners we adopted an efficient lab plan with support spaces in the middle and laboratory spaces feeding off of the support and offices were to one side. In a weekend, the building was simply sketched out showing mainly interactive spaces, barely the building but the Client understood and approved the program and concept.

Before the advent of BIM, we developed a 3D model, prior to 2D plans and detailed the building and made a developmental model. We collaborated closely with our engineers from the CM team to determine specific calculations and systems to allow for the greatest flexibility and maximization of the budget.

The glazing systems were customized versions of the simplest systems – the skylight had no mullions. Numerous studies were performed for glass systems to understand the requirements needed for shading. This was only possible to achieve through the constant collaboration of the team. The entry glass utilized thin horizontal mullions to provide for the most transparency – the scientists are able to connect with the surrounding environment and the community can feel a part of the developments
occurring inside.

The collaboration between all team members proved to be successful – the contractor, architects and client were all engaged and it parlayed into all pieces striving to achieve excellence. Through this process, we realized that scientists have similar thought processes to architects – where they test hypotheses, we explore design options until the correct solution occurs. The collaboration between the researchers that leads to successful discoveries, when applied to the design team of the building can result in victories in design as well.