The New Laboratory of Molecular Biology—Cambridge, England
Duane Pinnix, P.E., RMF Engineering, Inc.
The ambition of the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is to remain a world-class research institution. To establish an appropriate environment for research, the MRC has constructed a new building for the LMB, together with support spaces for the MRC, to re-house existing facilities and allow for future developments.
The LMB has a distinguished history of discovery and invention over the last 50 years, with members of the laboratory receiving many accolades and awards for their work. LMB's future role will be to continue excellence in science while training scientists for research around the world.
The new LMB project will drive scientific innovation throughout the next century. The LMB building is a three-story, state-of-the-art biomedical research facility with 300,000 gross square feet of space located in Cambridge, England. The project is the first new modern research facility to be constructed in the European Union over the last decade. As such, the design process proved informative, yet challenging, to work through with new technologies. The facility allows the LMB to continue its research in major program areas of structural studies, protein and nucleic acid chemistry, cell biology, and neurobiology.
The building is designed with full interstitial floors above the laboratory zones and will house biosafety level (BSL)-2 and BSL-3 laboratory spaces. The project utilizes many sustainable concepts, including thermal flue façade, ground source heat pumps to hit renewable energy targets, extensive natural light, total heat-heat recovery, displacement ventilation of lecture spaces, chilled beams in the western stack, and variable volume/flow technologies throughout the building.
The facility was constructed on a greenfield site and has an energy center housing all critical infrastructure services. The project employs four vertical plant towers to remove the air handling plant from the building to eliminate long-term vibration and acoustic concerns. The compact design of the plant towers provides the additional benefit of a much lower cost design solution.
All MEP elements on the project were produced using three-dimensional building information modeling (BIM) technology. The work process required regular exchange of both architectural and structural models from "across the pond" to drive coordination and primary design objectives. Following the design phase, the BIM models were used to develop pre-fabricated engineering modules to improve the project schedule and enhance build quality.
The overall design features that were integrated into the project resulted in a total annual carbon savings of 1,766 tons.
Duane Pinnix has been at the helm of RMF Engineering since becoming majority owner in 1998. He joined the firm 28 years ago as a project engineer and is now responsible for the general oversight of the firm and executive management of its branch offices. Mr. Pinnix serves as president of the firm and chairman of the Board of Directors. Under Mr. Pinnix's leadership, RMF has evolved significantly. Initially, the firm was focused solely on mechanical and electrical engineering. Mr. Pinnix has helped steer RMF toward becoming nationally recognized for the analysis, planning, and design of multifaceted engineering projects serving higher education, healthcare, research and development, and government clients. With particular expertise in the design, engineering, and commissioning of mechanical systems for buildings and infrastructure, Mr. Pinnix maintains a hands-on role with projects involving complex HVAC systems, including both new installations and phased renovations.