...building information modeling to fit everything into the building “because the existing structure’s floor-to-floor heights were tight and the labs require a lot of utilities and infrastructure,” says Bruce Wallmann, principal associate and project manager with Erdman Anthony.

Cannon also designed the University at Buffalo Clinical Translational Research Center and Kaleida Health Global Vascular Institute.
Photo: Cannon Design
Cannon also designed the University at Buffalo Clinical Translational Research Center and Kaleida Health Global Vascular Institute.

To helping support the additional load of the mechanical penthouse, Pike will strengthen the columns with a fibrous wrap.

“It’s an epoxy-coated material that wraps around the columns,” says Larry Fuentes, project manager for Pike. “Somecolumns get three layers and some get two layers. It adds to the shear strength of the column.”

Also to accommodate the building’s structural limitations, S/L/A/M clad the hall in glass with high-performance glazing.

Although the team set LEED gold as a goal, it is currently on track for silver status. Daylight will illuminate 75% of the interior spaces. Other green features include heat-recovery units, waterless urinals and daylighting. Reusing the existing site and foundation will contribute to its sustainable status.

Pike officials expect a December 2011 finish.

Downtown Turner Construction Co. of New York broke ground in August on the $291-million, 477,500-sq-ft, 10-story Clinical Translational Research Center and Kaleida Health Global Vascular Institute.

The university will contribute $118 million and occupy the top four floors. Kaleida Health’s portion is $173 million. It will occupy the first six floors, moving its cardiac, stroke and vascular operations, plus a new and expanded emergency department, to the new facility.

“It is one of the first of its kind in the Northeast, and they are saying there are only three or four other facilities like this in the world,” Thompson says. “They will use the clinical data for research, and the research is done to improve the clinical practice.”

The site is adjacent to the Kaleida’s Buffalo General Hospital. Cannon Design designed the new structure. The project will wrap up in late 2011. The school and health system hope that by locating researchers and clinicians in the same building, they’ll foster more new developments in medical technologies.

“It provides spaces to bring researchers, physicians and entrepreneurs together to talk about advancements, new products and new ideas in the medical marketplace,” says Paul O. Cannon, principal and regional director for Cannon Design. “It will be an economic advantage to our area.”

Also downtown, Holt Architects of Ithaca, N.Y., is designing a new $27-million, 63,834- sq-ft, four-story Educational Opportunity Center. The school expects to break ground on the project in 2010, with construction scheduled for completion in 2012. Cannon Design is providing construction management services.