Description

Faced with building restrictions on the former central Seattle location and the undesirable option of moving to the suburbs, scientists of the Cancer Research Center voted for the long-term development of a gradually extendable research campus on a site of more than 4.5 ha at the edge of Seattle’s port. At the time of its acquisition, the site at the foot of Capitol Hill – flanked by water to the northwest and the southbound highway, located between the University of Washington campus and Seattle’s CBD – was a mix of modest residential buildings and dilapidated industrial premises.

The three departments of the Cancer Research Center were to be realised in four building phases with the option of further extensions. A clearly arranged, dense and green campus was to be built. The original urban plan envisaged parallel volumes leading down from the hilltop to the waterside like steps of a giant stair. This in terms of urban planning plausible idea turned out to be too expensive. Consequently, the buildings were lined up along the existing roads to enable a partial use of the existing infrastructure.

The completed Basic Research Building for basic research (phase 1) comprises two simple rows of buildings. The urban layout of the premises, – which are located at the northern end of the site, is defined by the pocket-situation between the highway and the waterfront.

Due to the rainy climate a fully glazed steel bridge links both buildings on the first floor. It largely closes the courtyard off the sea, thus compromising the elementary relation to the water.

To allow utmost flexibility, an accessible service mezzanine level was allocated to each floor of the Basic Science Building. Thus, mechanical services of laboratories and other spaces can adapt to future changes at any time and any place. Generous central shafts supplement the mechanical engineering concept. This way, expenditures of time and funds for future redevelopment or refurbishment are to be cut down to less than 50 percent in comparison with conventional laboratory buildings.

The laboratories are embedded into an ordering system of offices, secondary spaces, storage rooms, and service pools. Even though any spot can be serviced, floor plans were strictly zoned. Laboratories are located along the façades to provide a maximum of daylight; spaces for equipment, measuring, and special use are located in the central zone, and offices are situated at the gable ends. From there, the building affords views of the masts of the schooners and yachts, and the sea, or the skyline of the nearby city.

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Originally published in: Hardo Braun, Dieter Grömling, Research and Technology Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2005.