Georgia Tech Engineered Biosystems Building

Architect: Cooper Carry and Lake|Flato

Owner: Georgia Institute of Technology

Location: Atlanta

Project site: Brownfield

Building program type(s): Laboratory

Georgia Tech’s LEED Platinum Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB) is an innovative new model for research facilities. EBB challenges the silos of traditional laboratory design, creating a system of open lab neighborhoods that foster engagement. A departure from traditional lab structure, the “cross-cutting lab” implements continuous working lab space running down the spine of the building, with offices and meeting rooms in the wings. Daylight, outdoor views, a water harvesting system and other biophilic elements used throughout the program encourage interaction. Technology and intelligent design work together to create a multi-purpose open space with high levels of ecological performance.  

"The Georgia Tech Engineered Biosystems Building weaves a large array of active and passive strategies into a highly tuned machine for this university research laboratory." ~ Jury statement

Georgia Tech’s Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB) provides nearly 200,000 sq ft to serve as a core bio-technological research building for Georgia Tech, as well as a model for further development of that section of the campus. The six-story design reevaluates laboratory design, merging the College of Sciences and College of Engineering to create an interdisciplinary environment that supports the acceleration of advanced research development. EBB was conceptualized as a research facility that would coerce interdisciplinary collaboration by reinforcing physical integration between researchers focused on chemical biology, cell biology, or systems biology. EBB challenges the silos of traditional laboratory design by creating a system of open lab neighborhoods that foster engagement. A departure from traditional lab structure, which typically prescribes adjoining rows of partitioned lab space throughout a building, the “cross-cutting lab” implements a program with continuous unobstructed working lab space running down the spine of the building with offices, meeting rooms and break and restrooms in the wings. Daylight, views to the outdoors, and other biophilic elements are used throughout the program to encourage interaction. The first building in what will become Georgia Tech’s Research Quad, EBB was envisioned to anchor the northern edge of campus. As an institution known for its advanced research, Georgia Tech required a high-performance facility and anticipated LEED certification at a high level. Integrative design process was used to bring together all project stakeholders at the beginning of design to set performance goals and metrics for the building. To achieve the passive design goals that were set for daylighting, energy, site ecology, and water, the project team created a vertically-scaled, narrow research building with a light footprint. EBB fits and functions within the Eco-Commons, a permanent and multi-purpose open space with high levels of ecological performance that lays over the entire campus master plan.

Additional information

Project attributes

Year of design completion: 2013

Year of substantial project completion: 2014

Gross conditioned floor area: 207,790 sq ft

Gross unconditioned floor area: 4,676 sq ft

Number of stories: 6

Project Climate Zone: ASHRAE 3A

Annual hours of operation: 2,920

Site area: 142,052 sq ft

Project site context/setting: urban

Cost of construction, excluding furnishing: $91,613,210

Number of residents, occupants, visitors: 582

Project Team

Architect of Record: Cooper Carry

Daylighting: Integrated Design Lab

Ecological Services: Biohabitats

Energy Performance: TLC Engineering for Architecture

Engineer – Civil: Long Associates

Engineer – MEP: Newcomb & Boyd

Engineer – Structural: Uzun + Case

General Contractor: McCarthy Building Co.

Lab Planning Consultant: RFD

Landscape Architect: jB+a

Landscape Architect: Nelson Byrd Woltz

Third party rating systems

LEED: Platinum

Jury

Michelle Addington, Dean, School of Architecture, The University of Texas Austin, Austin, Texas

Jennifer Devlin-Herbert, FAIA, EHDD. San Francisco

Kevin Schorn, AIA, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, New York

Julie V. Snow, FAIA, Snow Kreilich, Minneapolis

M. Susan Ubbelohde, LOISOS + UBBELOHDE, Alameda, California

Jury comments

The Georgia Tech Engineered Biosystems Building weaves a large array of active and passive strategies into a highly tuned machine for this university research laboratory. The project reports significant measured energy savings of 58 percent for the building type and an impressive 90 percent of floor area with direct view of the outside. Thoughtful organization allows for an abundance of daylight to reach the laboratory spaces as well as the offices.

Laboratory buildings are typically heavy water and energy users, yet the design team managed to show that vast improvements can be achieved through ingenuity and integrated design. The focus on water in the building and the reuse of rainwater and air conditioning condensate in the landscape surrounding site is particularly impressive.

Image credits

GTECH-EBB

Chris Cooper

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Lake|Flato Architects

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Jonathan Hillyer

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Jonathan Hillyer

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Chris Cooper

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Lake | Flato Architects

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Jonathan Hillyer, Chris Cooper

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Chris Cooper