Description

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is an independent non-profit research facility committed to a broad scope of fundamental research in the field of plant physiology. In this function, it is part of an exemplary partnership of various private organisations and state universities. The region known as Corn Belt of the United States today hosts the ”Silicon Valley” of agricultural research with St. Louis as its centre.

The centre aims at the sustained improvement of human health and nutrition standards as well as the efficiency of agricultural production, for instance by means of improved and pest-resistant seeds. The new building is situated on a 40 acre site which offers sufficient possibility for future extensions. As a centre at the heart of an agro-biological region, the facilities play an important role in the communication with other leading research institutes and enterprises.

In the middle of the symmetrical complex an atrium covers the entire length and full height of the building. This space is accessible to everyone and forms the centre of internal and external communication. Offices and laboratories are arranged according to their required mechanical services to the east and west of the atrium. The variously dimensioned open plan laboratory spaces are situated between the office area oriented towards the façade and the service and specialised laboratory spaces directed towards the hall. Signalising openness and transparency, the gable ends of the atrium are fully glazed. Additional daylight enters the atrium through a saw-tooth roof. The vertical as well as horizontal circulation system between public and research areas comprises a number of elements that structure the atrium and provide a human scale: open galleries, bridges linking both wings, and two ”Jacob’s ladders”.

To the south, a widely cantilevering canopy highlights the main entrance. The canopy acts as a screen keeping direct sunlight off the glazed front, thus reducing solar gains inside. Combined, the saw-tooth roof, the canopy, and a reflecting water pond control the building’s thermal balance.

To the north, the building makes use of the sloping site to accommodate underground growth chambers well protected from exterior climatic conditions. They received green roofs that provide further thermal insulation. Finally, classical rows of greenhouses in north-south direction complete the layout.

The building is a reinforced concrete frame structure with thermal insulation and a terracotta rain screen on an aluminium substructure. The complex is of a unified appearance that strengthens the identity of the research centre. The combination of technically advanced and traditional, natural materials will support the idea and the goals of the Center.

---

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