Bioscience Research Laboratories

Description

The BSRL provides research facilities to support interdisciplinary research in many health science disciplines. This new facility encourages collaborative translational research that will advance understanding of the molecular basis of human health, aging and disease.

Design Intent

BSRL is the final puzzle piece that completes the master-plan for its urban block in the Health Sciences Campus. The original vision for a campus courtyard was initiated by the Keating BIO5 and MRB buildings, which frame the south, east, and north edges of the space. The BSRL building gives final definition to the courtyard by establishing its western edge while also providing access into it through a grand two-story opening. This breezeway portal gives passage to a mid-block pedestrian route and celebrates BSRL’s role as a gateway and a campus threshold. BSRL is a North-South bar building, and its simple form expresses both a sense of repose and dynamic movement as the bridge-like top story suspends itself above the central portal and stretches southward over the transparent, street-welcoming first story. The short north and south ends cantilever outwards to accentuate the street corners and emphasize the building as a gate-way to and from the UA bio-science campus along Cherry Avenue. As part of the three-building set, BSRL sympathizes with and expands the architectural vocabulary of Keating Bio5 and MRB. Like the two other buildings, BSRL has an outward-facing shell of red brick that provides the entire block with aesthetic consistency. This outer layer also acts as a protective shield to the more transparent, courtyard-facing inner layer. BSRL’s brick facade is lifted along the southern half of the western edge along Cherry Avenue, creating a more welcoming presence and a new front door to the complex. This exposes the glazed lobby and interaction space, which was conceived as an extension of the outdoor environment, joining the street realm and the inner courtyard through a layered, visually connected continuum of activity spaces: pedestrian colonnade, interaction lobby and café, and breezeway portal.