| High-containment
lab handles world’s most dangerous pathogens
The
Project: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Emerging Infectious Diseases
Laboratory (Building 18), Atlanta. 390,000 ft2 facility combining
~165,000 ft2 of BSL-2 and -3 lab space; a 41,000-ft2 vivarium; 86,000
ft2 of offices; and ~80,000 ft2 of enhanced BSL-3 (BSL-3 Ag) and
BSL-4 labs. $130.7 million ($335/ft2). (A new west campus central
utility plant was included in the overall project but excluded from
the ft2 data and costs identified above.)
The new Emerging Infectious
Diseases Laboratory occupies a central space on the CDC’s
Roybal Campus near Emory Univ. in Atlanta. It consists of two
wings: a high-rise lab and office tower (right) and a six-story
high-containment lab, vivarium, and glasswash facility (left).
(The curved-roofed building at the far right is Building 17,
the Infectious Disease Laboratory; Building 15, a containment
lab, is the white element behind the new containment wing at
the far left.) All photos: Balthazar Korab. Click
here to enlarge. |
This project received a Special Mention citation in the 2006 Lab
of the Year competition for the design, engineering, and construction
of its high-containment spaces. (Construction details will be discussed
in a second article in the June 2006 issue of Laboratory Design.)
The Team: CUH2A, Atlanta/Princeton, N.J. (lead
architecture, engineering, laboratory and containment planning and
containment engineering); Smith Carter USA LLC, Atlanta (containment
planning and containment architectural); Hemisphere Engineering
Inc., Atlanta (containment engineering); KSI Structural Engineers,
Atlanta (structural engineering); PBS&J, Atlanta (civil engineering);
Architectural Energy Corp., Boulder, Colo. (sustainability consultant);
Boyken International Inc., Atlanta (cost estimating); Reece, Hoops
and Finch, Atlanta (landscape architecture); Richard + Wittschiebe,
Atlanta (interior design); McCarthy Building Cos. Inc., St. Louis
(CM/constructor).
The Users: Consolidation and expansion project
supports the work of the CDC’s Bioterrorism Program; the Div.
of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases; the Special Pathogens Branch;
the Div. of AIDS, STD and TB Laboratory Research; and the Div. of
Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases. Occupancy: 440.
The Schedule: Fast-track schedule. Design commenced
Oct. 2000; construction commenced Sept. 2001; redesign occurred
after the anthrax attacks of Oct. 2001, resulting in the addition
of two floors and structural changes to the lab tower’s foundation
and framing, plus enhanced security features. Occupied fall 2005.
The Goals: The U.S. has an acute and growing need
for research and response capabilities involving exotic and deadly
pathogens, including Ebola virus, SARS, and avian flu. The CDC required
expanded high-containment lab space for working with viable pathogens,
and associated labs for working with agents of lower biosafety levels,
as well as parts of organisms that are not infectious, such as extracted
DNA, RNA, and proteins. Office space was also in short supply, especially
for those who worked in the campus’ existing containment facility,
Building 15.
In the lab tower
wing, varied configurations of BSL-2 and BSL-3 space and
support labs are possible, depending on demand. Containment
levels can be altered by modifying door locations. All
diagrams: CUH2A. Click
here to enlarge |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
The client wanted to ensure that a high degree of safety and security
would be combined with a design promoting enhanced collegiality
and creativity. All labs, including the containment labs, were expected
to encourage interaction and a high quality of life for the staff,
whose work can be stressful due to its extreme degree of responsibility,
urgency, and risk.
The consolidation and expansion project was meant to create a new
identity for the Emerging Infectious Disease research groups and
eliminate a “bunker mentality” inherent to existing
high-containment labs. In addition, the design had to allow quick
changeovers of BSL-2 into BSL-3 or even BSL-3 to BSL-4 animal holding
space in response to demand surges.
The building is also part of a major site reorientation of the CDCs
Roybal Campus, complete with a new entrance, visitor’s center,
and security enhancements. Building 18 is now the heart of the CDC
campus, ringed with office and support buildings.
As much as possible, the CDC wanted the building to be “green”
in accordance with LEED certification criteria. Finally, stringent
attention to value management was an important client objective.
High-containment labs are
clustered in quadrants; the BSL-4 labs can be linked if necessary.
Common space is shared by both BSL-3 Ag and BSL-4 labs, allowing
convenient interaction without leaving the high-containment
block.
Click here to enlarge |
The Solutions: The two-wing plan consists of an
11-story lab and office tower plus a six-story high-containment
block. The tower is organized with offices to the south, attached
to each level of the existing Building 15, providing much-needed
office space for occupants of that facility. Offices on levels six
through 11 support Building 18 only. Associated BSL-2 and -3 labs
and lab support are sited across a corridor from the office blocks
on each floor, toward the center of the facility.
The high-containment wing on the north side of the building includes
a fully automated glasswash facility that serves the entire campus,
a one-story vivarium with BSL-3 holding rooms, the BSL-3 Ag and
BSL-4 labs, and intersitital space serving the vivarium and the
high-containment labs. Two mechanical floors serve this wing as
well.
A service component between the two wings connects to a tunnel system
that links the entire lab core of the campus. A secure courtyard
garden, accessible only from within the building, was created in
the space between Buildings 18 and 15; it provides a pleasant space
for relaxation and interaction.
To meet the CDC’s flexibility goals, lab casework is modular
and can be quickly reconfigured. Base cabinets roll; countertops
and shelving are adjustable and removable. Sinks are mobile and
feature quick disconnects.
The entry sequence for
the high-containment labs allows employees to take breaks without
the necessity of a full body shower. Only a chemical decontamination
shower is required when entering and leaving the common room
via the suit room. Click
here to enlarge |
Each BSL-2 lab suite in the tower contains five 11- 3 11-ft alcoves
to accommodate up to two workers and two biological safety cabinets
per alcove, maximizing available work space and the ability to upgrade
to a higher containment level. On each floor, three BSL-2 labs are
supported by a block of BSL-3 procedure rooms.
Mechanical galleries beside the labs in the tower wing keep maintenance
workers out of lab spaces and also allow extensive use of perimeter
clerestory windows to maximize daylighting.
Aesthetic beauty was an important quality-of-life factor in the
design. Circulation spaces are high-ceilinged and daylit when possible.
Economical, dry-stacked local stone, used on both the exterior and
interior, creates a feeling of warmth as well as security and permanence,
and provides continuity with other campus buildings.
To address the sustainability objective, engineers worked to “right-size”
the mechanical and utility infrastructure. The typical air-change
rate was reduced by 20% through a careful analysis of the impact
of air changes on biosafety. An analysis of cooling issues at existing
CDC buildings led to improved air distribution strategies. High-heat-generating
equipment on each floor was placed in a linear equipment room; dedicated
air handling units take conditioned supply air from the perimeter
corridors and then recirculate it within the LERs.
A high-containment necropsy
suite includes hanging air-supply hoses. Instead of relying
on bottled air for backup air supply to the pressure suits,
Building 18 has a scuba tank breathing air compressor and dual
air storage tanks. This eliminates annual change-outs of air
bottles. Click
here to enlarge. |
Daylighting
and lighting controls (including solar-activated mechanical shades)
conserve energy, with an estimated 40% lighting cost reduction compared
with a baseline facility. Water conserving features, use of local
and sustainable materials, and low-VOC paints and carpets contributed
to the “green” goal. The design also has landscape features
that control runoff and collect rainwater for irrigation.
In light of the CDC’s cost-control goals, the entire design
was subjected to a “continuous value management” process
rather than late-stage “value engineering.” One major
change that resulted in significant cost reduction was the substitution
of a fenestrated exterior wall system with interspersed concrete
panels, rather than a full curtain wall system. The fenestrated
design met blast performance criteria but was only half as expensive
as a conventional system would have been.
The Highlights: The new high-containment lab, singled
out by Lab of the Year judges as worthy of special attention, is
designed to handle multiple disease outbreaks simultaneously. Four
quadrants, each composed of a BSL-4 lab, a BSL-3 Ag space, and an
animal holding area that can swing from one to the other, provide
the world’s highest concentration of modern high-level containment
labs. The level 4 labs can be linked or separated as demand warrants
through adjustment of controls and protocols.
The configuration of the suite allows workers to spend a full day
there without showering out, due to the configuration of the common
rooms and shower and pressure-suit zones. Toilets and sustenance
are available in the common rooms, which are still in the containment
zone; workers can remove pressure suits and take a break, then re-suit
before re-entering labs. Only when leaving the block completely
is a worker required to take a conventional body shower.
Dual-access gloveboxes
between the BSL-3 Ag and BSL-4 zones allow split handling of
hazardous and unknown samples. The split-sample protocol prevents
any material that’s ever been in the BSL-4 zone from entering
a BSL-3 area, even if it proves to be a BSL-3 agent. Click
here to enlarge. |
Dual-access glove boxes are stationed between the BSL-3 and -4 zones
to safely contain high-hazard specimens and those of unknown origin.
(Unknown samples are placed in the cabinet and split; if identified
as a BSL-4 agent, both parts go into the BSL-4 lab. If the sample
is a BSL-3 agent, the portion from the BSL-4 lab is destroyed and
the remainder goes to the BSL-3 lab.)
The high-containment animal facility places holding rooms adjacent
to each other with air-tight doors in between them, so they can
serve labs independently or be combined for large projects. The
holding rooms can be converted from BSL-3 Ag to BSL-4 and back again,
and exist in a one-to-one relationship with their procedure rooms
for maximum flexibility without loss of containment or risk of cross-contamination.
A wide range of species can be accommodated, including rodents,
ferrets, birds, fowl, rabbits, pigs, sheep, and nonhuman primates.
Plasma screens throughout the high-containment block alert employees
to any potential problems and the required actions. The alarm system
includes audible and visual alarms, including strobe lighting that
is easy to see even when pressure suits are worn. Doors have viewing
ports to allow safe observation from the corridors.
The entire facility is operated by backup generators, with UPS bridging
the gap between regular and emergency power for critical components.
Waste management is critical for containment facilities. Building
18 has three factory-fabricated, pressurized, effluent decontamination
vessels. One of these double-walled vessels can be used for waste
receiving and a second for waste treatment, while the third can
be off-line for maintenance. The entire waste treatment process
is gravity-fed, eliminating the possibility of pump leaks and contamination.
Biowaste and biovent piping are made of welded stainless steel;
biowaste vents are HEPA-filtered in a dual configuration that preserves
filtration even during maintenance. If a problem arises, an interlock
cuts the water supply to the BSL-4 labs so no more waste flows into
the vessels until the problem can be addressed.
Fumigation rooms allow
movement of large equipment into and out of “hot”
BSL-4 suites. The dunk tank shown allows easy movement of smaller
samples and items. Click
here to enlarge. |
Other notable features include:
• Integrated, lightweight air-pressure-resistant doors. To improve
standard, overly heavy models, designers worked with a German firm
in development of lighter doors. Necessary services were integrated
into the doors and frames.
•Misting, self-cleaning chemical shower nozzles. Clogging is
a common problem with shower nozzles in BSL-4 facilities. An integrated
plunger and a low-flow spray head are designed to reduce both maintenance
and chemical use.
• Integrated service delivery chase. Stainless steel chases
organize and streamline exposed services while conserving space.
• Scuba tank breathing-air compressors. Integral breathing air,
supplied to pressure suits from hoses that hang from the ceiling,
posed a design challenge. Typically, backup air is provided by bottled
air tanks, which must be changed out at least once a year even if
unused. To avoid this maintenance headache, designers developed
a system using a scuba tank compressor and two large storage tanks.
The dual-tank system provides the necessary backup capacity as well
as the ability to conveniently purge and refill.
• Full commissioning and validation of components and systems,
including structural, superstructure walls, air-pressure-resistant
doors and windows, coatings and wall prep, bioseal dampers, sterilizers,
HVAC systems, electronic hardware, chemical disinfectant system,
effluent decontamination system, HEPA filter housings (more than
300 HEPA filters are integrated), domestic water backflow, controls,
UPS/ emergency power, medical lab gases, fire detection systems,
and architectural barriers and systems. The containment area seals
were subjected to a complete pressure decay test.
The Results: CDC director Julie L. Gerberding says
that, due to this project’s meticulous design and execution,
“We have the largest and most modern BSL-4 laboratory capability
in the world. This is a world-class facility for world-class scientists.”
A triple-vessel effluent
decontamination system is gravity-fed, eliminating maintenance
and possible pump leakage. One pressure vessel holds waste,
one decontaminates, and a third is available for maintenance
and change-out. Click
here to enlarge. |
Lab of the Year judges were especially impressed with the high-containment
wing’s ability to combine state-of-the-art safety and security
features with sustainability and value management, all in an accelerated
schedule that reflected the urgency of the facility’s mission.
In addition, they appreciated the design team’s efforts to
make the building a pleasant place to work in, and the construction
team’s attention to detail.
Peter Van Vechten lauds the “extraordinarily complex construction
process,” citing issues such as concrete shrinkage, curing
time, and sealing. In addition, he says, the judges appreciated
the building’s “series of innovations, including the
doors and biometric security devices.”
Says William Hartzell, “The demands from the CDC are unique
and very stringent. The designers did a nice job of making the space
livable and safe. If I was to work in that business, I would feel
secure working there.”
The Contact: Jon Crane, AIA, principal, project
director and biocontainment specialist, CUH2A, Atlanta. 404-815-8601;
jcrane@ cuh2a.com.
— Julie S. Higginbotham, editor
|