Owners

Toby Bradshaw, Chair, Department of Biology, UW
Steve Majeski, Associate Dean, College of Arts & Science, UW
Troy Stahlecker, Assistant Director, Major Capitol Projects, UW

Core Design Team

Perkins+Will – Architect of Record, Designer, Planner
Anthony Gianopoulos, AIA, LEED AP – Managing Principal
Doug Streeter, RIBA, LEED AP – Design Principal
Andy Clinch, AIA, LEED AP – Project Manager/Designer
Devin Kleiner, AIA, LEED AP – Project Architect
Alex Clinton, AIA, LEED AP – Lab Planner
Paula Swanborough, LEED GA – Senior Interior Designer
Michelle Han – Designer
Shanni Hanein, LEED GA – Designer
Genevieve MacNeil, LEED AP – Designer
Yuhui Xu, LEED GA – Designer
Natalie Mansoor – Interior Designer

Consultants

SKANSKA USA (General Contractor)
Coughlin Porter Lundeen (Civil and Structural Engineer)
Affiliated Engineers, Inc. (Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing Engineer)
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd. (Landscape Architect)
Blanca Lighting Design (Lighting)
Agritechnove Inc. (Greenhouse)

Project Narrative

The Life Sciences Building (LSB) embraces three core concepts: Science is a Gateway + Connections + Engagement. These core concepts enhanced the building’s relation to the campus, students, faculty, and environment.

The new $124M building on the UW Seattle campus will become the nucleus of the Department of Biology which occupies multiple buildings. The public ground level includes a café, lounge, active learning classroom, student collaboration rooms, and teaching labs. The lower levels include state-of-the art greenhouses that display their plant research adjacent to the building’s entrance and gateway to Main Campus. The upper levels have research labs, offices, and a public zone of breakrooms and conference rooms adjacent to the glassed-in open stair.

The facility has a unique civic opportunity to connect with the campus and community by engaging with the Burke-Gilman Trail, a popular biking and walking path for students and the public drawing thousands of regional users daily through the campus. In addition to displaying the greenhouse research along the trail, a civic plaza is located where the trail intersects with the pedestrian bridge connecting to South Campus—a unique “watering hole” of educational and social activity along this regional thoroughfare of bike commuters.

LSB’s modern research and teaching space will equip the Department of Biology to advance faculty and student recruitment and retain a world-class reputation for innovative research which is the engine of scientific discovery. The next generation of scientists graduating from UW will be immersed in leading edge research methods and working side-by-side with renowned faculty in an open, collaborative environment.

LSB exemplifies UW’s commitment to sustainable design and is targeting LEED® Gold certification. The sustainable design innovations include exterior sunshades with building integrated photovoltaics that both shade the southwest facing offices and generate energy. The water re-use strategy stores the reject water from the lab’s reverse osmosis system and re-uses it for watering the plants in the greenhouse. Additional sustainable strategies include operable windows for natural ventilation, chilled beams, radiant floors, and chilled sails—merging natural systems with new technologies.