Broad Vision Pushes the Envelope: Integration of Science, Design, and Systems
Fred Tepfer, University of Oregon
Charles Cassell, HDR, Inc.
Typical laboratory building projects quickly bind themselves within constrained boundaries, both programmatic and physical, limiting their breadth of vision and ultimately limiting innovation. The University of Oregon's (UO's) Integrative Science Complex (ISC) projects provide concrete examples of how to think outside of traditional boxes and use district-wide integration of programs, systems, and design to obtain benefits ranging from building performance and research interactions to energy and water conservation and long-term flexibility.
The programmatic integration of the UO's Lokey Science Complex had already created a cohesive, interwoven community of science learning and research. The ISC projects extend the breadth of this concept to new areas and techniques. Inspired by theories developed for green chemistry programs, systems integration applies eco-district concepts: utilizing the results of the "wrong-sizing" of earlier projects across building barriers and using waste products and byproducts from one system as feedstocks for other systems. In addition, design integration concepts forge a close collaboration of the entire design team, owner, and contractor to evaluate these concepts and implement them in the most effective way possible.
Inspired by the long history of programmatic integration of scientific research at UO, the Lorry Lokey Laboratories (the first ISC project) built a characterization and nanoscience facility under an existing quadrangle between two earlier buildings, and drew many of its building services (chilled water, heating hot water, equipment cooling loop, etc.) from the "wrong-sized" (oversized) systems of adjacent buildings. It also challenged norms in order to drastically reduce the impacts of energy-intensive HVAC systems.
In addition to tying two additional areas of research (computer science and cognitive psychology) into the interconnected Lokey Science Complex via a flexibly assigned facility for cross-disciplinary integration, the second ISC project, the Lewis Integrative Science Building, was influenced by theories of green chemistry to use byproducts and waste products as feedstocks to close the resource loop. Application of this theory to the building realm inspired reuse of waste heat from utility tunnels and wastewater from reverse-osmosis water purification systems as system feedstock for the project. This thinking also led to stormwater concepts that reduced pollution far more than baseline local and LEED® requirements.
The lessons learned in these two projects are already inspiring the thinking that will lead to the third ISC project, replacement of the weakest link within the Lokey Science Complex.
Biographies:
Fred Tepfer is the project planning manager in the University of Oregon's Campus Planning office. He has worked at the University of Oregon since 1984 as a facilities planner, transportation planner, campus planner, and architect. Mr. Tepfer has worked on the highly sustainable Lewis Integrative Science Building, which is on track to be rated LEED Platinum; an underground nanoscience and characterization center (Lorry Lokey Laboratories), which broke new ground with creative approaches for fostering interaction, reducing energy use, and integrating systems with adjoining buildings; integrated approaches to advanced transportation planning; application of universal design theory to codes and development of guidelines for design for people with blindness and low vision; and post-occupancy building research in the design of spaces for informal learning. A licensed architect, Mr. Tepfer has also taught intermittently at the University of Oregon since 1993 as an adjunct faculty member in architecture and educational leadership.
As principal for laboratory planning and programming, Chuck Cassell brings 30 years of focused experience in the programming, planning, and design of science research facilities. He is a widely recognized authority in the design of life sciences laboratories, particularly in the fields of translational and comparative medicine, functional genomics, interactive, multi-disciplinary research and biomedical engineering. Mr. Cassell is also recognized as one of the national leaders in the programming and design of animal research facilities. His work has received numerous awards, including design awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and recognition in the R&D Lab of the Year program. He is a regular speaker at national conferences including the Society of College and University Planning, American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, and AIA, and has been involved in more than 150 research facilities.