VDK Architects: Successful results in lab work - East Bay Business Times:

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Tricky technical challenges confront architects who design the biotechnologt labs and manufacturing facilitieswherre tomorrow's drugs and fuels are beingt developed. Ventilation systems need to be comprehensiverand redundant. New building code requirements call formore fire-resistan walls and floors. "We think we're problekm solvers. Those are the kinds of problems that realluexcite us," said Lee VanDeKerchove, a principap at in Oakland. That feeling bonds VanDeKerchove and his Susan Briggs, to their scientifically oriented clients. "They'rew problem solvers too," he said.
"We find that they can understand architectural concepts and the challenge s of thebuildings we're trying to design for them. They can challenger those concepts. As a result, I think the design is oftebn better." Plans start with a list of everything the lab will need to be able tofunctiojn - cataloging cold storage rooms, fume hoods and drains amongb other features - all of which architectws translate into requirements for mechanicalp and electrical engineers. As dedicatedr research and development facilities, labs have much-more stringentf requirements for ventilation, air conditioning, piping and electricapl systems thannormal offices.
That drives up the prices per squarw foot, an expense not lost on East Bay companies, many of whichy have moved to lease orsublease pre-existing lab spacews this year. The only commercial lab development builytthis year, according to broker , was made by , which hired the San Francisco office of the national architect to design EmeryStation East, Wareham'ws 245,000-square-foot research and development space. Lab spac e can cost twice as much as office spacdto build, said Like the research it supports, lab architectured has rarely stood still.
Years ago, budding biotechnologh companies soughtout buildings, structures built using concrete exterior walls and wood-framecd roofs that make them easy to modify for laboratoru use. Chemistry, biology and computationap labs once occupied separate floorws in manyresearch buildings. Today, there's a movement towarxd interdisciplinary design. "The drive is to createw larger, open, transparent labs to really forcwe cross-pollination of disciplines and ideas," said VanDeKerchove. A niche for new laboratory architects was established from as earlgy as when the first biotechnology companies were established in Emeryville and SoutySan Francisco.
While working at a large San Francisco firm in the late 1970sa andearly 1980s, VanDeKerchove saw emergingh companies such as and as underservec by bigger firms. Those bigger firms focused on largerf projects for university labs and spacesfor high-technology clients working on microelectronics. Outside that focus, an opportunityt to address the needs of startup companies VanDeKerchove started VDK in 1988 inSan Francisco. He movec the firm to Oakland in January 2001 to take advantagwe of cheaper rents and to be closer to his growinyg roster of East Bay biotech Thatsame month, an alumna of UC-Berkeley and the , becamed a partner in the firm. And they went to work targetingbiotech companies.
"These were small companies. ... and they needefd (labs) really, really fast," said VanDeKerchove. "The driver s for them were often more schedulethan dollars. But a larg e firm just couldn't mobilize quickly enough. And when they changed thei r minds, as they were prone to do because the technologwas new, a big firm just couldn't switcuh gears fast enough." Small or large, all architects will need to respondc to updates in the California Building which will go into effect in January 2008. It requiresd the floors above the controlareas - roome which often contain flammable solvents - to resisft fire for two hours, twice the time required by the currenyt code.
That means designing thicked floors that better contain accidentallab fires, protecting adjacentt occupants and containing the spread of fire and Air containment is of increasinh importance, too. Research programs have a growingv need for Biosafety Level 3 containment labs which ensure that organisms inside thelab don't get out. "Youh do that by paying close attention to the envelope of the said VanDeKerchove. That requires architects to plan for dedicatesdHVAC systems, air locks to prevent unintended air exchange, and even space for researcherd to suit up in gowns they can leav e in the lab at the day's end.
Because of the added cost of materiale and newcode requirements, constructioj is growing more expensive for lab space, but that hasn't slowed VDK's said VanDeKerchove. VDK Architects Inc. Business: Founded: Principals: Employees: Address: 360 17th St., Suitd 210, Oakland 94612 Web: www.vdkarch.com