-
Architects: Delawie
- Area: 395000 ft²
- Year: 2019
-
Photographs:Stephen Whalen, Alex Baltov
Text description provided by the architects. BioLegend’s new campus blends the bold and iconic with fluid, organic design. The project started with Master Planning efforts that outlined a four year strategic plan to privatize a public street and convert the existing 7.5-acre, 4-parcel plot of land into an 8-acre biotechnology campus. Master Planning started in September of 2015 and the entire Campus Project finished February 28th, 2019.
The completed Campus includes over 150,000 SF of lab space, over 80,000 SF of office and amenity space, over 200,000 SF of site improvements, a new 7-story, 700-stall parking garage with photovoltaic panels, a pedestrian bridge, 500-person multi-purpose room, a full commercial kitchen, yoga studio and gym and a fully automated OPEX Perfect Pick order fulfillment center.
A 70-foot tall orthogonal atrium is visible from all points of campus and surrounding streets. Its interior is flooded with natural light and acts as a beacon, drawing its inhabitants into the main building where employees interact with the architecture in different ways on each floor. The atrium’s transparency maintains a connection to the encircling campus buildings and green roof while providing private collaboration and casual breakout spaces.
The expansive green roof looks out over the central courtyard space and visually masks the presence of a large 500-person multi-purpose room built off the main building. Natural materials like wood, concrete, and glass provide a natural, tactile experience for employees. In these spaces native and drought-resistance plants establish a connection to nature where mature trees and boulders create cool, shaded areas for employees to enjoy a pleasantly insulated experience.
BioLegend’s design is steeped in symbolic references to the company’s heritage and mission. The “Y”-like structure of antibodies can be seen in the trellis in the courtyard and the supports of the bridge that connects the administration building to the central lab atrium, and even in shape of the new building itself. In the multipurpose room off the main building, the carpet was designed to resemble the mottled colors of cells dyed for analysis. The colors used here and throughout the campus as a way-finding technique and is a nod to BioLegend’s signature combinatorial color-coding system used in their experiments.
The office space is welcoming and encourages collaboration but also offers workstations and private rooms for focused efforts. The labs focus on cross-functionality to increase efficiency between departments. Specifically, within the new four-story building, the lab space features open floor plans and creative office space to encourage collaboration. Labs, offices, break rooms and conference rooms are strategically placed to enable scientists to focus on science so that one day a cure for cancer, Parkinson’s, or other diseases can be discovered, thanks in part to BioLegend.
