The 290,000-square-foot complex - two adjoined four- and five-story- buildings made of white aluminum and metal panels, red brick, and glass are built on the south edge of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and were dedicated this month.
The facilities - the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics, operated by the University at Buffalo, and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Center for Genetics and Pharmacology (RPCI) - merge in one location two long-time research collaborators in a new complex devoted to translational research. Together with partner Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, the three entities comprise the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex.
One goal of the project was to design the buildings are designed to stringent environmental standards. Ample access to daylight is one of the features that make the complex a candidate for the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating.
Planners estimate that sustainable design features used for the buildings will improve overall energy efficiency by 30% compared to the baseline energy code requirements.
Throughout the entire complex, generous windows permit natural light, unusual in lab buildings. The RPCI wing features projecting bays and horizontal bands of windows that push out from the building.
As a counterpoint, the glazed portions of the UB wing are recessed. A glass stair tower on the east side of the building and a transparent, triple-height tower on the west end serve as bookends. Offices, lounges, and corridors, as well as labs - which rarely have windows, especially large ones - are filled with natural light.
The complex’s mission is to accelerate research into the control, prevention, and cure of disease, with the aim to increase "through-put" - the ability to quickly move scientific research from lab bench to the commercial market.
