ROOM to Move

Biotech addition team tackles a tight spot

University of Wisconsin-Madison Biotechnology Center Addition

Photo courtesy of Miron Construction Co. Inc.

Construction of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Biotechnology Center addition truly tested the creative reflexes of all the firms involved.

The project was pinched into a tight spot that offered only 20 to 30 feet of room on three sides of the building and a busy Madison street on the fourth side. With so little space around the structure, there was no room to store materials or trucks at the site. That forced the project team to precisely schedule deliveries and pour concrete between midnight and 6 a.m.

"Trucks had to get in and get out," said Russ Owens, project manager from Miron Construction Co. Inc.

But space constraints weren't the only challenges on the job. Due to height restrictions on the structure, the air handlers, typically placed on the roof of a building, had to be inside. As a result, the first floor of the building is about 80 percent mechanical space, Owens said. Custom-designed air handlers were delivered in pieces and put together inside the facility. Once assembled, they are larger than a train car, Owens added.

"We never did a project quite like this," he said.

Construction of an animal research facility in the lower level presented other challenges to the architects and contractors. Creating a space that could house the complex equipment and offer the proper maintenance of air quality was not easy.

Even with all the quirks of this unusual project, crews managed to finish 17 days early and with no lost-time injuries.

	Project Name: University of Wisconsin-Madison Biotechnology Center Addition Location: Madison Submitting Companies: Miron Construction Co. Inc., Neenah, and Potter Lawson Inc., Madison General Contractor: Miron Construction Co. Inc. Architect: Potter Lawson Inc. Engineers: Affiliated Engineers Inc., Madison, mechanical, electrical and fire protection engineer; SRI Design, Madison, structural engineer; GPR Planners, Purchase, N.Y., laboratory engineer Owner: State of Wisconsin Project Cost: $23 million Start Date: December 2002 Completion Date: August 2004

The $23 million, five-story, 95,600-square-foot facility certainly was a challenge to build, but it provides sorely needed space for the Genome Center and Laboratory of Genetics, both of which had been housed in the university's old Genetics Building. The new structure contains research laboratories, laboratory support, faculty offices, an animal research facility and workstations for research support and staff.

Eric Lawson of project architect Potter Lawson Inc. said the space was designed to be extremely flexible, which will allow the university to mod-ify its laboratories as research needs change over the years. A dry lab, for example, can easily transform into a wet lab if required.

From the start, the incorporation of natural daylight into as many areas as possible was a goal, Lawson said.

"The corridors, all the labs have access to natural daylight," he said. "The workstation areas do, too."

Owens said his crews, along with every other firm involved in the project, learned a lot in building this structure.

A schedule that was constantly updated and fine-tuned allowed a lot of work to get done in less than 600 days, and employees at the lab can now enjoy this state-of-the-art facility.

For some of those who worked on it, the project, despite its high-tech nature, brought to mind an old-school building technique not seen much today.

"It was like building a battleship in a bottle," Owens said.