The Project: Reliance Industries Ltd., Catalyst & Material Reliance Technology Centre, Gujarat, India. Renovation of 8,826 ft2 of a 15,069 ft2 building on an industrial campus. $900,000.
This project received a Special Mention citation in the 2009 Lab of the Year competition for its use of modern lab-planning principles in a way that was economical, sustainable and appropriate for both the science performed and the cultural context
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Before renovation, the labs of the Catalyst & Material Reliance Technology Centre were closed units ranged along a large central corridor (shown here, the first floor).
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| Renovation produced two large open labs on the first floor, separated by a small writeup area, and an analytical zone at the far end of the floor. Half the ground floor was renovated for the CMRTC with an NMR, bench-scale reactors, and an “innovation gallery”; the other portion of the floor was renovated for a different division (not shown). |
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The Team: Sheth & Sheth Architects and Interior Designers, Gujarat (architect); Reliance Industries Ltd., Central Engineering Services, Gujarat (engineer, contractor).
The Users: The Catalyst & Material Reliance Technology Centre performs research with a major emphasis on polyolefin technology development. Strategic technologies under review include research on high-performance polypropylene catalysts and external donor technologies. The research facility was initially established in 1999, and underwent a major renovation/upgrade less than 10 years later.
The Schedule: Design and construction were completed during 2007-08.
The Goals: The two-level 1999 building included two labs for synthesis; two analytical labs for investigating products’ compositional and spectroscopic characteristics; a polymerization facility to study catalyst performance; three scientist offices; and a conference room. Labs were conventional, closed facilities ranged along a central corridor.
Within a few years, Reliance decided a redesign/upgrade would be appropriate. Key objectives included:
- Improved workflow.
- Optimized physical movement among labs.
- Better visibility.
- Better floorplate efficiency (reduced corridor space).
- Improved lab-to-office ratio.
- Better collaboration and communication.
The Reliance leadership believed that improvements in the infrastructure would produce a paradigm change that would boost the already-successful research effort, emphasizing a culture of innovation. Improvements in both applied (business-oriented) and basic research capabilities were targeted. Safety and sustainability were also goals for the project.
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| Right, Part of the re-envisioning of the Reliance CMRTC was the orientation of the entrance to a main road. The building, once surrounded by barren land, now sits amid plantings. All plans and photos courtesy of Reliance Industries Ltd. |
The Solutions: A complete rethinking of the facility and its context was characteristic of the project. Formerly surrounded by barren land in Reliance’s industrial complex, the building was reimagined as the center of a green belt with flower beds. The main entrance, once at the side off a feeder road, was reoriented to a main campus road.
The ground floor now holds a 400 MHz FT-NMR instrument; bench-scale reactors for high-pressure polymerization (a class IIB hazard area); and an “innovation gallery” in a former corridor space. (Half of the ground floor, or about 6,300 ft2, was, and continues to be, occupied by a different division, the Central Laboratory; this section, though renovated, was not part of the award submittal.)
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Once housed in closed zones on the first (upper) floor, the synthesis lab is now open. Glazed walls provide views through a writeup zone to the open analytic
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| The advanced characterization lab on the first (upper) floor includes SEM, XRD, FTIR, and a UV-vis spectrometer. Glazed walls connect the lab with adjacent spaces. |
al lab beyond. |
The congested lab area on the first (upper) floor was reconfigured with a pair of large open labs spanning the entire depth of the building, separated by glazed walls and a central write-up area. The synthesis section of the open zone includes four hoods and associated equipment; the analytical section is devoted to instrumentation such as GC, HPLC and other tools. An advanced characterization lab at the other end of the corridor includes sensitive equipment, including advanced microscopy, XRD, FTIR and a UV-vis spectrometer.
Clustered between the large lab zone and the analytical section are a series of small spaces, including a conference room, a “knowledge section” combining a library and small-group discussion zones, a documentation room, and s small amount of office space. Due to the reorientation of the labs, non-assignable corridor space was greatly reduced.
For a further discussion of design highlights, as well as additional photos, see the expanded edition: www.labdesignnews.com/may2009.
The Results: Lab of the Year judges approved Reliance’s use of modern lab design techniques in a culturally appropriate context, including open labs as possible; separation of writeup and lab zones; interaction zones; and an improved environmental footprint. Judge Victoria David, AIA, VP/director laboratory design, Leo A Daly Architects, Denver, says, “Renovation projects are always the most interesting to review because they don’t have the luxury of a green field—most of the time, they are lemons and the design team must make great lemonade. This solution took a pretty modest and pretty rigid building and made it into a space that more clearly reflected the users’ vision.
“To us, here in the US, this seems like ‘no big deal,’ but I think we have to appreciate that India is a developing economy and that ‘laboratory planning and design’ is a pretty unusual concept. But this group embraced the concepts and gave it their best shot. They learned that they could be in control of their environment and not be oppressed by it. And that the quality of the environment does make a difference.”
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| The analytical lab houses GC, HPLC, GPC and other analytical tools. Previously cloistered, the lab is now separated from the synthesis lab by only a small writeup area, with heavily glazed walls promoting a sense of connectedness. |
The research team takes pride in its facility, according to Reliance, and has received multiple national awards in India for innovative science. The redesigned lab is a key to helping the firm move from an intellectual property user to an intellectual property creator, according to the goal established by chairman/managing director Shri Mukesh Ambani.
“Innovation-based research and technology is an integral part of RIL strategy for achieving growth, business profitability and sustainability,” says project leader Virendra Kumar Gupta.
The Contact: Virendra Kumar Gupta, Reliance Industries Ltd., 91-261-6635381, virendrakumar_gupta@rilcom
— Julie S. Higginbotham, EditorPublished in Laboratory Design: Vol. 14, No. 5, May 2009
