Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Photos

credits: Chistopher Barnes and Peter Vanderwarker

Project Name: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

The Client’s mission is to understand the key processes that are driving evolution and change in the world’s ocean ecosystems – including the inter-relationships between ocean organisms and climate change. In planning the new Ocean Science and Education Campus, the team worked closely with the Laboratory to develop the program, conceptual design and costing materials. Applications successfully yielded $19.1M in funding.

The design for the campus incorporates several key insights: 1) how innovative design enhances researcher collaboration, community, and productivity; and 2) how an exceptional approach to sustainability can achieve ecological harmony between building and site as well as dramatic operational savings – all while reflecting and reinforcing the mission and values of a globally acting research community.

Each of the three wings houses laboratories that are specific to one or more areas of research. Both the laboratories and utility infrastructure are designed for future flexible and include provisions for accessibility. The arrangement of the offices, the meeting spaces, and the special ‘collaboration porches’ overlooking the ocean are designed to promote interaction and enhance interdisciplinary collaborations.

The laboratory wings connect to a shared Commons that provides casual meeting space, and strengthens connectivity among researchers. In future phases, this Commons will be extended to connect to future research wings and to a Main Entry and Education and Administration Center.

The buildings are gently placed into the coastal hillside, following the land contours and providing a continuous visual connection into the forested coastal setting. The building forms and materials recall the local vernacular of docks and piers, while creating a dynamic image for a vibrant, world-class research facility. The building envelope utilizes a highly insulated ‘rain-screen’ cladding to achieve a high-performance and durable skin – one that will patina and soften over time as it settles into the coastal environment. The selection of environmentally sensitive materials, efficient harvesting of daylight, and artful integration of the building’s mechanical systems all contribute to a unique facility that is operationally efficient, that mitigates the environmental impact of its own construction, and that provides an inspiring venue for generations of researchers.

The project resulted in 57% energy reduction over baseline. Features include: solar panels for harvesting 20 KW of electric energy to provide approximately 2% onsite power to supplement operation of the seawater experimentation system; modular central utility plant; site roadway, parking and utility infrastructure for full master plan build-out; shore facility for research vessels.

Architecture or A/E Firm Name

WBRC Architects Engineers in association with Perkins+Will

Architect

Shirley Holt, WBRC, and Gary Shaw, Perkins+Will

Team

Richard Rollins, Principal-in-Charge

Consultants

Perkins+Will, Terrance J. Dewan Landscape Architecture, Thornton Tomasetti, Kleinschmidt, Tenji

Location

60 Bigelow Drive, East Boothbay, ME

Client

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

General Contractor

Consigli Construction Co. (Construction Manager)