Arising on the campus of the University of Utah (U of U) is the James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building – A USTAR Innovation Center. The 200,000-square-foot facility will use a range of design elements and technology to reduce energy use and costs from current laboratory code requirements by a minimum of 40 percent. Its design also will create some pleasing spaces to encourage interaction between all who work in or visit the building.

The facility had its groundbreaking in April, so it takes some imagination to picture what it will all look like. Thanks to Lord, Aeck & Sargent Architecture and the U of U, you can now enjoy an animated fly-through of the building. Four minutes, 40 seconds in length, the fly-through gives a very clear idea of the building’s design and environmental elements.

The facility is targeting LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, and has been designed by architecture firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent’s Atlanta office in association with Prescott Muir Architects in Salt Lake City. Among the strategies used to achieve a reduced environmental footprint are daylighting to allow natural light to reach at least 75 percent of the building’s occupied spaces, and the use of sunshades to modulate the quality and intensity of light as it enters the building at different times and different angles throughout the year.

The 200,000-square-foot building will support 25 senior faculty researchers, plus junior faculty, administrative and laboratory personnel. The building will house both flexible, open-bench research laboratories as well as four specialty core research facilities for small animal imaging, biomedical microscopy, engineering microscopy, and nano-fabrication. Open lab space will have adjacent closed equipment rooms and nearby office space for the principal investigators. The flexible laboratories and their core support labs are designed to support the collaboration of scientists in many disciplines with the most sophisticated scientific tools and equipment.

USTAR anticipates the building will encourage interaction between researchers and Utah’s life science companies as they pursue breakthroughs to commercialize. The building is being funded through a $100-million commitment from the state of Utah along with private gifts, among them $15 million from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation and $1.25 million from the Micron Technology Foundation.

For more information on Lord, Aeck & Sargent, visit www.lordaecksargent.com.