Photo by Jason O’Rear

Dramatic overhanging fronts for the two lab buildings pushed the team to explore various structural schemes, including conventional cantilevered floor framing, canted columns, story trusses and a masted rooftop structure to hang. After careful consideration, the canted column option became the most cost- and schedule-effective solution, while also being the most aesthetically pleasing. Now the six-story building’s floors step outward, cantilevering toward the site’s northeast corner, while the second building’s five stories subtly extend this architectural statement across the site.

However, the cantilevered column system and twisting floor plates posed several challenges during construction that required close coordination. The cantilevered floor plates progressively extend, causing inherent twisting for each floor under self-loading conditions. To ensure stability during the erection phase, crews coordinated cabling and temporary structure design and closely monitored and controlled framing displacements throughout construction. Meanwhile, the buckling restrained braced frames sit in a core configuration to limit impacts on future tenant programming by maximizing free space at the perimeter bays. The exterior wall is also designed to allow for flexibility and connection to the outdoor spaces, and the enclosure features metal panel cladding with large glass openings.