Co-Location, Collaboration, and Flexibility on a Corporate Research Campus

When Bristol Myers Squibb sold its Hopewell, New Jersey site and sought to consolidate research efforts on its 280-acre Lawrenceville, New Jersey site, they selected HDR to design an addition to the campus. Critical to this consolidation was the ability for the project team to meet an extremely aggressive design schedule. Modules M&N were intended to support the co-location of a number of research groups, which at the time were undetermined. To address this challenge, we used an inventive approach that provided flexible options for the building, the laboratory and office space. The building serves as co-location for the Lead Discovery Organisation, Chemistry, Fibrosis and Cardiovascular Biology groups and is tracking for LEED Certification.

HDR delivered the project under budget and ahead of schedule. By treating it as a core and shell/ fit-out approach, we were able to design the superstructure before the users were fully determined. We designed the two office and laboratory modules connected by a central collaboration hub as a reflection of BMS’s new workplace and flexible laboratory standards. The building provides a destination at the northern end of the Lawrenceville campus that also serves as a major entry point to the entire research complex.

BMS also had a site requirement of a 15-foot floor-to-floor height, so our engineering, structural and architectural team utilised Revit modelling during schematic design to establish zones, with concepts reviewed by the entire design and construction team for buy-in. What resulted was a layered approach to utilities for not only the floor-to-floor height, but also a 9-foot ceiling height throughout laboratories and offices.

Key Features Include:

• Adaptable environments with a central corridor that maximises the use of glass to promote “Science on Display” and gives immediate access between office and lab zones organised in parallel bars
• Flexible lab space achieved through the use of mobile tables and overhead ceiling service panels, as well as modular wall panels that subdivide large open labs into defined sub-labs as needed
• A central collaboration hub that connects the two research and office modules, providing a variety of informal spaces, including personal work spaces, large open tables and a cafe setting
• Mechanical systems designed with an eye on future flexibility including strategically placed ceiling point exhausts, fabric faced diffusers in high air-change labs, centralised air systems that utilise total energy heat wheels and run-around coils and mechanical rooms laid out with a focus on ease of maintenance
• A central lighting control system set up for energy efficiency and extended life along with specialty labs equipped for photo-sensitivity
• Utilisation of the built relationship of the new to existing buildings to define courtyards, providing seating considerations for both individuals and groups and extending the collaborative work area of the central hub to the exterior spaces