KJWW is providing mechanical, electrical, fire protection, plumbing and technology services for a 24,000 SF renovation of space on second and third floors.
The space will house:
- animal research
- human research
- chemical laboratories
Key elements of the research space includes:
- revamped acoustical chamber
- microscopy lab
- freezer room that will house approximately 24 laboratory freezers with temperature monitoring and remote alarm capabilities
- autoclave room
- walk-in freezer room
- dark room
The project also includes a Computational Neurobiology section with a computer lab, server room and office space.
The biggest challenge of the design was the air handling system associated with the renovated spaces. The air handling unit serving the existing spaces is currently located in the mechanical penthouse, which sits above the 11th floor of the building and a walk-in mechanical attic. Chemical and fume exhaust needed to be routed up and exhausted at the roof level so that it could not cause harm to this building’s or other neighboring building’s occupants, outside air intakes, etc. The design, construction and budget was greatly effected by the fact that multiple supply, return and exhaust duct risers were needed to travel through approximately eight floors that would not be otherwise affected by this project. The quantity of duct risers is more than currently exists and the size of them is also larger due to lab type spaces that require higher air changes per hour for safety.
Other design obstacles include existing building utilities such as campus chilled water and emergency power. The majority of building utilities are located in the basement and penthouse and are somewhat limited to existing equipment capacities. The new air handling unit will have larger fan motors than the existing units due to higher airflows. Due to higher airflows and higher quantities of outside air, the capacity of steam and chilled water required to heat and cool the spaces also increases. One of KJWW’s largest tasks was to determine if these existing utilities could handle the increased loads associated with the new equipment and spaces.
Emergency power availability was also an issue. The design team worked with the researchers to prioritize the equipment served by the emergency system.
Project planning included strategies to prevent other portions of the building from going down during construction of these spaces.