Health-Tech Incubator
There is a unique opportunity in Portland with the increasing tech culture and the growth of the OHSU throughout the South Waterfront to create an opportunity for the two to intertwine in a building. Tech start-ups centred around the health industry are among the most valuable in terms of investment and potential for growth. My programme focuses on providing interaction between a new incubator space for these start-ups and research labs connected with OHSU and the new cancer centre being built in the foreseeable future. The idea is that the building becomes a large space where connections can be made spontaneously, so in a case where researchers need assistance in the digital fabrication or programming of functions in their activities they have the tech-industry immediately on hand to work with and provide quicker partnerships between the parties.
Tom,
Glad to see that you have been developing your program ideas. The concept of a building that supports biotech startups and OHSU research and operations fits the South Waterfront.
While it is important to include both dry labs and wet labs, you currently have a lot of very specialized labs and equipment rooms, which add a lot to the complexity of designing the building. Look in depth into one of the specialities (electronics, chemistry or biology/biochemistry) to guide you. Here is one: http://nanolabtau.com/project (Program is in Orange)
I would create a large facility with repetitive modules that can be subdivided into smaller labs. I would guess 600 to 800 s.f. would be a minimum size as a starting point. The Pacific studios are about 800 to 1050 s.f. and they started out as Chem labs.
Don’t forget the outdoor and support spaces. Many of these spaces will need a lot of back of the house stuff: shipping and receiving, trash/recycling, storage, admin, washrooms, janitor closets, mech and electric.
The generic office part could be WAY bigger and incorporate a lot of flex open office spaces that could be subdivided. I would add a public cafe and private kitchen / lounge areas within the workspaces.
Create a narrative about a day in the life of different users to bring it to life.
Architects Ted Hyman and Doss Mabe of ZGF and the donor talk about the AIA design award-winning J. Craig Venter Institute’s vision and context and how they shaped the design.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuQ5Mxtn6VtEc6Z3g2WcMqnNLdxSYvuN2
Whole Building Design Guide : Lab Trends
http://www.wbdg.org/resources/labtrends.php
Thanks for the ideas, Nancy! I’ll definitely look into consolidating the overall programme into the tech and electronics sector, while providing a smaller emphasis on support spaces in the form of wet+dry labs.