Bio-imaging research facility sees scientific, sustainability success
The Max Planck Society is recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious research organizations with programs in many areas of the natural sciences and humanities. Research at its new Jupiter, Fla.-based Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience focuses on bioimaging, using the most advanced techniques to visualize microscopic molecular processes. Bioimaging provides a critical opportunity to translate discoveries of basic research into clinical and patient-oriented applications, which can help improve medical diagnostics and the quality of care. So advanced, the institute’s optical bioimaging equipment can map out details of the brain down to single cells and neurons.
To accomplish these scientific feats, the institute’s new three-story, 101,000-square-foot, glass-and-metal laboratory and office facility utilizes wet- and dry-bench research, instrumentation labs, computational research, core imaging and microscopy facilities, information technology services, offices and support shops. Its modern aesthetic was inspired by the Max Planck Society’s European facilities. Almost 58,000 square feet is dedicated to laboratory space in three distinct research wings. Conference rooms, a 100-seat auditorium, lounges and administration offices are centrally located around an open lobby that connects all three floor levels.
 |
“The exterior design is very German,” says Bryan Cannon, principal at ZGF Architects, Washington, D.C., the design architect. “It expresses the building’s clear layout, which consists of two parallel laboratory zones flanking a light-filled social center. The façade expression is derived from its purpose: window placement and patterning directly relate to the activities inside, and carefully proportioned, finely profiled sunshades provide crisp patterns of light and shade while controlling the intense south Florida daylight.”
A large atrium is directly connected to an outdoor terrace on the second floor and provides a central meeting space. The new facility also has six guest laboratories to ensure sufficient space for cooperation with researchers from other organizations. To successfully complete its high-tech, technological endeavors, the facility was designed with the same innovation and vision that it strives to attain.
Crisp, clean aesthetic
Metal was used to clad the entire facility. “To create the crisp, clean aesthetic design Max Planck desired and to meet the Florida Building Code (FBC) and Miami-Dade County Hurricane Building Code requirements, the architects (ZGF Architects with PGAL, Boca Raton, Fla.) specified a caulk-free, dry-joint rainscreen wall panel system,” says Trip Hummel, principal, D. Architectural Metal Solutions Inc. (DAMS), Alsip, Ill., the project’s fabricator. “This utilized Reynobond panels with KEVLAR material and traditional Reynobond aluminum composite material
(ACM) from Eastman, Ga.-based Alcoa Architectural Products to protect and define the building envelope. This system is designed as a water management system to control the impact of wind-driven rain on exterior walls. Its caulk-free design provides the desired crisp, clean look while still satisfying the small- and large-missile impact requirements, general structural specifications and design intent.” In a joint venture, The Weitz Co. of West Palm Beach, Fla., and DPR Construction Inc. of Palm Beach, Fla., served as the general contractors for the project.
DAMS Inc. fabricated 17,000 square feet of Reynobond panels with KEVLAR material, 4-mm polyethylene (PE) core with an Anodic Clear Colorweld 500 paint finish, and 17,000 square feet of ACM, 4-mm fire-resistant (FR) core with an Anodic Clear Colorweld 500 paint finish. The contractors installed the Reynobond panels with KEVLAR material on the entire façade of the building below 30feet and installed the traditional FR Core Reynobond ACM on the upper façade, including all exterior wall paneling, coping and soffits.
 |
“The fabricators/installers met challenges posed by custom panel detailing, unique termination and transition details,” says George Rosado, commercial director, Alcoa Architectural Products. “The project as distinctive window enclosures-some protrude from the building façade, others are recessed with large eyebrow soffits, dilution well areas and penetration details. Coordination with substrate framing, waterproofing and other design elements was also essential.”
Energy efficiency
Laboratories are known to consume an average of three to five times more energy than an office building of the same size. Therefore, the institute’s main sustainable features focus on the building envelope, energy efficiency and water usage. The architect’s building models show an improvement in energy usage of 25 percent above the standard baseline for laboratory facilities. U.S. Department of Energy(DOE) criteria were considered from the start of the design process and were reflected throughout all stages of development and construction, and continue to impact the building’s operations.
“The building envelope and mechanical systems are designed to consume the least amount of energy possible, consistent with the goals of a safe and flexible research mission,” says Rich Hubacker, principal at ZGF Architects. “The building orientation minimizes solar heat gain and limits solar glare. Given the site location and general solar path, the design team worked to minimize east and west glazing exposures where shading is difficult and glare is a problem.”
Laboratories and office spaces have large windows facing north for maximum daylight. Large,carefully shaded exterior windows provide abundant natural light and allow for the possibility of greatlyreduced electrical lighting loads. “The glazing selection’s solar heat gain and shading coefficients werefound to be far more effective than the insulative properties of the glazing for energy efficiency, sosingle-pane laminated glass with a high-performance Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries’ Solarbancoating was selected,” says Hubacker. Sophisticated air-conditioned zoning also reduce energy loads.
The institute has external aluminum sun shades from DAMS Inc. “Not only do sunshades enhancethe appearance of the building’s façade, but they save energy, reduce solar heat gain, reduce glareand manage daylight,” says Hubacker.
“Nearly every window in the facility is adorned with custom parallelogram infill aluminum sunshades with triangular fascia tubes utilizing integral curtainwall knife plate connectors,” says Hummel.”All sunshades were pre-assembled and shipped ready to hang for the installation team for consistency and significant time savings.”
 |
The dehumidification and cooling process yields clean, non-potable condensate water which contributes to the building’s cooling system. Moisture is removed from the building’s air intake, and rather than being discarded, is recycled by using it in the cooling towers for water make-up. State-of-the-art enthalpy wheels capture useable energy from building exhaust. Drought-tolerant native plant species are used for landscaping and irrigation is provided by a municipal reclaimed water system. At the end of construction, the design team conducted a commissioning process to ensure that all systems operate as efficiently as their specifications indicate they should and interact with one another to achieve maximum overall efficiency.
It has achieved LEED for New Construction 2.2Gold certification with laboratory-specific recommendations from the DOE’s Lab 21 environmental performance criteria to guide the design process. Because of its many outstanding qualities, the facility was an Urban Land Institute SE Florida Vision Award 2013 finalist and the U.S. Green Building Council South Florida, Outstanding LEED NC Project (Private) 2013 finalist.
[sidebar]
Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, Fla.
Completed: May 2012
Total square feet: 101,000 square feet
Building owner: Max Planck Florida Institute
Architects: ZGF Architects, Washington D.C., in association with PGAL, Boca Raton, Fla.
General contractors: The Weitz Co., West Palm Beach, Fla., and DPR Construction Inc., Palm Beach, Fla.
Lighting designer: MCLA Architectural Lighting Design, Washington, D.C.
Metal installer: The Weitz Co., West Palm Beach
Metal wall panel fabricator, and sunshade and rainscreen system supplier: DAMS Inc.-D. Architectural Metal Solutions Inc., Alsip, Ill.,www.damsinc.com, Circle
#36
Aluminum composite material: Reynobond by Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga., www.reynobond.com, Circle
#37
Glass manufacturer: Trainor Glass Co., Alsip, Ill. [No longer in business]
Window coating: PPG Industries, Pittsburgh, www.ppg.com, Circle #38
 |