Judging for the 42nd Annual Laboratory of the Year competition was held in Elk Grove Village, Ill., on February 21, 2008. Simon Hall at the University of Indiana in Bloomington was selected for High Honors in this year’s competition, along with the Science and Technology Facility at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, which was selected for a Special Mention Award for its implementation of sustainable designs.
Simon Hall is a 140,000-square-foot, four-story science laboratory positioned in the Old Crescent section of the Bloomington campus. Designed and built to blend into the 1930s art modern theme of the campus, the facility encourages interdisciplinary study in biology, chemistry, cognitive science, physics, and biochemistry. It is expected to expedite development of the next generation of advances in proteomics, genomics, and bioinformatics. It was designed and planned by Flad Architects in Madison, Wisconsin and built by F.A. Wilhelm Construction Co., Inc., in Indianapolis, Indiana.
NREL’s Science and Technology Facility is a 71,000-square-foot research lab that was the first federal building and the first laboratory to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum designation as one of the world’s most energy efficient and environmentally friendly buildings. The Lab of the Year judging panel cited its environmental design and low cost as key factors in its selection for a Special Mention award. Architect and engineer for the lab was the SmithGroup in Phoenix, Ariz., with construction by MA Mortenson in Denver, Colo.
For only the third time in the past 42 years, this year’s judging panel chose not to present an award in the top Laboratory of the Year category, citing a lack of leading-edge designs that would advance the state-of-the-art in laboratory design for future research facilities.
This year’s judging panel consisted of architects, engineers, lab planners, equipment suppliers, and the editors of R&D Magazine and Laboratory Design Newsletter. A full write-up of the winners and leading-edge lab design trends will be covered in the June issue of R&D Magazine and Laboratory Design Newsletter. Awards will be presented to the owners and designers of this year’s winning labs at the Laboratory Design Conference in the J.W. Marriott Houston, Texas, on April 1, 2008.
