The Labs on 121 is a 160,000SF, 10-floor Class-A commercial building with spaces for both life science lab and office uses. It is one of the first life science buildings in what will be a wave of new lab buildings in the city. The design challenge called for a façade design amenable to these different uses.

To meet this challenge, the architectural façade piers were configured using a 10’-10” lab program module and an 8’-4” office program module, referencing lab organization modules by American virologist Jonas Salk.  This allows for the façade to work with cellular office, open office, conference rooms, and lab dimensions, allowing for layout flexibility.

Thin perimeter structural columns every 25’ allowed to maximize the area of glazing along the primary street facing facades, while the metal infill panel adjacent to each window allows for flexibility for future interior lab or office F&FE fit out. The façade will be a long format thin brick rainscreen system by Corium, providing a contextual response to the brick facade characteristics of the neighborhood. All window glazing is equipped with VIEW smart tinting electrochromic glazing, allowing the end user to control the level of tinting throughout the building and in specific areas through zoning modules. 

The entry lobby will consist of a  blend of dark toned metals, natural wood and stone materials providing a contemporary, but warm point of arrival to the workspaces.

Photography by Florian Holzherr and Al Vega.