As the demand for lab-based research increases, the redevelopment of vacant office space for life science applications is gaining attention. Last May, for example, CBRE estimated that half of the 125 office conversion projects underway at the time were being adapted for life science applications.
Among the recent conversions are two office buildings of 32,000 square feet and 52,000 square feet on the Rock Creek Property Group-owned Precision Labs campus in Germantown, Maryland. The facility has been renovated into a cGMP-compliant white box facility and state-of-the-art equipment. -Art Lab, respectively.
Ware Malcomb’s Science and Technology Group, in conjunction with the firm’s Interior Architecture and Design and Site Planning Studio, collaborated with general contractor Coakley & Williams Construction, MEP engineers CFR Engineering, and CE VIKA-MD to develop this adaptive redevelopment project. The utilization project was completed in June of last year. . Project developer Rock Creek Property retained Facility Logix’s services as subject matter experts. (Ware Malcomb published information about the project last month.)
Office updates focus on MEP upgrades
To transform these office buildings into occupier-ready speculative BSL-2 labs, the architectural team focused on enhancing electrical, mechanical, and wastewater infrastructure within the context of the site’s original zoning.
The one-story 20430 Century Boulevard building (white box conversion) will be renovated to accommodate a full-scale corporate headquarters with 20-foot height, 30×40-foot column spacing, five loading docks, and optimal utility services and floor capacity. Designed. Upgraded utilities allow tenants to fully customize their space to suit their needs.
The two-story 20440 Century Boulevard building (laboratory) is a multi-purpose building with six biosafety level 2 wet lab suites ranging from 2,500 square feet to 7,500 square feet with state-of-the-art mechanical systems that are 15 feet tall. It has been converted into tenant life science office/laboratory space.
Ware-Malcolm said the construction team considered sustainability measures to control costs and minimize construction waste. This includes maintaining existing suite boundaries and light fixture locations, as well as reusing HVAC equipment and other mechanical equipment. The team installed new energy-efficient LED lighting and GreenSpec and Watersense approved plumbing fixtures. Also installed were high-efficiency energy recovery variable refrigerant flow systems for heating and cooling, and a building automation system to control and monitor HVAC equipment.
“This project embodies innovation, flexible design, and creative repositioning,” said Lori Ambrush, Ware Malcolm’s director of science and technology, in a prepared statement. The cost of the modification was not disclosed.
Last June, for the website. lab design news, Ambrush co-authored an article with CFR Vice President Jason Sambolt that covers design and engineering considerations for office-to-lab conversions. The article points out that, for example, if a large amount of laboratory equipment is not required and the building is supplied with natural gas, the building’s existing power supply is likely to be adequate. When electrical service upgrades are required, construction teams must take into account longer switchgear power distribution lead times (up to 52 weeks at the time of publication) and the fact that larger switchgear units reduce rentable square footage. need to do it.