Negotiating a Balance: Design and LEED™

Susan Seastone, AIA, and Stevens Williams, AIA, MBT Architecture

The Applied Biosystems Campus combines innovative conceptual planning for science with an ambitious approach to sustainable design, achieved within a strict budget. The master plan for this 80-acre campus included seven buildings and 960,000 gsf of space. Sustainability strategies for the site development included rehabilitation of the site soil from contaminates, a storm water management system, and a high-efficiency irrigation system.

The first building completed on the site has received LEED™ Silver Certification. Green features of the building include the maximization of daylight and views, optimizing energy performance through HVAC equipment and controls, sunshades and a reflective roof surface, and maximizing daylight at the interior work areas.

Sustainability was further enhanced with an open and highly flexible design, "Superblocks." This was the basis for plan organization to accommodate variety in use, including research laboratory, offices, light assembly/manufacturing, and dining. The "Superblock" approach also allowed the aggressive construction schedule, which involved multiple concurrent phases, to be maintained. At the time of programming, the specific location of any of the planned functions within the intended complex of seven buildings was not determined.

MBT Architecture, its consultant team, and Applied Biosystems developed criteria to allow a variety of user needs and types to be met within this single planning strategy. Criteria for this strategy included typical quantitative elements such as the capacity of building systems, and were expanded to include solar orientation, energy conservation, sustainability standards, and exit strategies. Qualitative factors such as flexibility, adaptability, and interaction were considered as well.

Findings:

The master planning for this campus involved seven buildings, and the original plan was to submit the campus as a whole for LEED™ certification. However, because the number of buildings in the first phase became reduced, it made more sense to proceed with certification for the first building constructed. Certification for this building was a complicated process, since the project team now had to quantify LEED™ points for the part of the site surrounding the building. The lesson learned here was to recognize that what might meet LEED™ guidelines at the campus level, might not be as easily applied when meeting guidelines for buildings taken individually.

Buildings were expected to "average" 2/3 labs, and HVAC systems were sized accordingly, without added controls that would enable reducing load when a building was not 2/3 labs. These controls were added after occupancy in order to conserve energy. Incorporating them into the initial design would have been more cost-effective.

This was the first time that the Pleasanton City Planning Department was involved in the approval process for a new building that would be LEED™ certified. Going through the LEED™ process helped the City understand how sustainable strategies benefit the community, and aided buy-in of the campus's neighbors. Pleasanton now uses the LEED™ checklist as a guideline for new buildings.

Labs21 Connection:

The most unique aspect of the building design is flexibility, characterized by the "Superblock" Prototype. In creating this Prototype, a Program Unit based on space required by a four-person research group was developed. This unit accommodates the workstations, laboratory area, support rooms, bench space, and utility distribution. By dividing the Applied Biosystems departments into the equivalent number of these units, we projected the necessary area within a "Superblock" required for group activities.

This prototype, which is supported by flexible, modular casework, is highly environmentally responsive and energy-efficient. It can easily be reconfigured for different applications when the user's needs alter, reducing waste generated by the change. Utilities are brought to the lab benches by overhead service carriers, which are composed of Unistrut armature. These service carriers also contribute to easier, faster changes with less environmental impact. The 4-person spaces allow users to share equipment and space, creating a more energy-efficient system.

At regular intervals in the interior walls, there are door-sized fully glazed openings that bring daylight into the corridors and visibility into the labs. Flexibility is enhanced, as these glass panels can be replaced with doors, as well as the reverse, when reconfigurations are made of the open labs.

Biographies:

Susan Seastone, AIA, Associate, MBT Architecture
Susan has performed as designer, project architect, and project manager for commercial, health care, and science project types in her 14 years of experience. Her design skills and leadership qualities contribute to successful collaborations and outstanding design solutions for the projects in which she is involved. These include the Applied Biosystems project, for which Susan is the Project Manager of the overall project, as well as the LEED™ process.

Stevens Williams, AIA, Associate Principal, MBT Architecture
Since joining MBT in 1989, Stevens has contributed his significant design and management ability to some of MBT's most demanding commissions. Many of these projects have received local and national design awards. The US Geological Survey/General Services Administration Vincent E. McKelvey Federal Building in Menlo Park, for which Stevens was project designer, won national design citations from GSA and the NEA. Stevens is the leader of MBT projects dealing with reducing energy use and using sustainable methods.

As master planner and design principal for the Applied Biosystems Campus, he has been able to act on and expand his commitment to sustainable design. This LEED™-developed project applies ambitious and innovative environmental design concepts to a highly functional and flexible research environment.

As project designer for the Stowers Institute, Stevens provided planning strategies for the adaptation, expansion and development of this research campus. Creative development of related social and interaction areas complement careful internal planning for science. A rich material palette provides a unifying tactility and warmth to these buildings.

Stevens has achieved vibrant design on projects with very limited budgets. Prime examples of this are two buildings for Mission College in Santa Clara - the Learning Resource Center and the Science and Technology Building. Each project's budget forced the use of tilt-up construction, yet the designs included creative approaches that provide visual interest and express the craft of construction. Exposed structure & building systems, are designed with an attention to detail, unusual in projects of such limited budgets.

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