The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, Wisconsin, USA

The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery building is an innovative biomedical research centre under construction in Madison, US. Located within the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, between University Avenue and Campus Drive, the facility will be home to two institutions: the privately financed Morgridge Institute for Research, and the publicly financed Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.

The $165m facility will open in December 2010. It will conduct research for a range of areas including biotechnology, nanotechnology and information technologies that will result in the development of new biomedical treatments and technological applications.

Designed with green building practices, the facility is expected to obtain LEED silver certification. The facility will be jointly owned by the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).

Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery facility

The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery facility will be a four-storey, trapezoid-shaped building sited on 1,300 University Avenue. It will occupy 300,000ft². There will be approximately 106,000ft² of space dedicated for research activities.

Spread over three floors, from the second to the fourth floor, the research space will include wet and dry laboratories, research support zones, administrative space and core facilities.

The research labs will incorporate a changeable design. The design will allow re-configuration of the labs according to the wet or dry research needs.

Each floor will have an embedded teaching lab that will allow students, scientists and community members to work together.

There will also be a research pod on each floor: one dedicated to the Morgridge Institute for Research, one for the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and a combined pod for both institutes. The second floor will also accommodate speciality laboratories. Two atria installed on each side of the building will protect the research labs from traffic noise as well as providing sufficient natural daylight.

The ground floor will house a town centre, which will feature public gathering zones, food venues, learning activities area and a multi-purpose round forum. 

Compared with any typical laboratory at the UW-Madison, the facility will consume 50% less water and energy. The facility will be the first within the campus to be equipped with a geothermal heating system.

Construction details

The facility broke ground on May 2008. Foundations for the facility were laid in November 2008. The site preparation required the demolition of eight buildings at 1,300 University Avenue.

The first phase of construction, including the topping out of the structure, was complete by June 2009. Nearly 98% of the materials forming part of the demolished buildings were recycled and re-used for the new facility. The building was enclosed by the end of 2009.

Over 15,000 terracotta tiles, each 5ft long and weighing 75lb, were used to construct the building's exterior. The tiles act as an energy-saving rain screen that can resist heat and moisture.

The facility is on track for completion in December 2010. By May 2010, construction was reported to be 75% complete.

Interior finishing work will include flooring and wood panelling, laying out the stairs and installing the glass in the atria. Construction of the speciality lab is also in progress along with the exterior site work. The building is expected to be occupied by the owners by October 2010.

Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery financing

The facility is being financed by John and Tashia Morgridge, donors and board members of the Morgridge Institute for Research. Additional funds were sourced from WARF and the State of Wisconsin.

Contractors

The contract for the facility's construction was awarded to Findorff-Mortenson, a joint venture between JH Findorff & Son and Mortenson Construction. Architectural contracts for the facility were awarded to Ballinger and Uihlein Wilson.