3 March 2013
09 planning | architecture | interiors
DGA
developments
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‘Anti-Sense’ at Core of New Isis HQ
Design of CampusCampus in Carlsbad Inspired OwnRNA RNAInnovations Innovations Design of Isis Carlsbad Inspired byby Own An expansive two-level structure sitting majestically on a hilltop in the heart of San Diego’s northern community of Carlsbad, Isis Pharmaceuticals’ new campus is visible for miles around. At night, a magical glow emanates from the building lights. Since its completion, the Headquarters and R&D Campus has become a fixture in the region’s commercial landscape and is helping to forge a path for other life sciences companies to follow in its footsteps. Located on nearly 14 acres, the three interwoven buildings totaling approximately 175,000 square feet were designed by DGA with Isis’ core “antisense” technology at its foundation. Isis is a leader in the development of RNAbased therapeutics for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases, so the campus’ inspiration derived from the structure of RNA, the genetic building blocks that make up DNA. Both the proportions of the buildings and their connecting “backbone” are analogous to the structure of sugars, phosphates and bases that form a strand of RNA.
Steve Pomerenke, DGA Design Principal and lead designer for Isis, recalls how Isis Chairman Dr. Stanley Crooke quickly displayed his passion for the project and outlined specific parameters for how the design process should unfold. Dr. Crooke, in fact, established nine design “principles” to which the project must adhere, and told the design team to immediately alert him if the process began to stray from that list. Those principles were: • Maximize the functional density, minimize the footprint. • The design should be open. • The science should be central to the design. • The design should be flexible and easy to maintain. • The design should be lowmaintenance. • Take advantage of the views. • The design should feel like an academic campus. • The design should have good flow. • The design should define the smallest carbon footprint and be as energy efficient and renewable as possible. (Continued on Page 2)
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Sensitive research requires StemCells to occupy wing in Newark building.
Construction firm NOVO seeks vibrancy with new Menlo Park headquarters.
Sustainability guides design of SDG&E café refresh.
Bicycle donations among DGA holiday charity efforts.
Developments
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Nancy Escano Managing Principal
My Perspective From time to time during the evolution of an architecture firm, there are projects that help to revitalize/reinforce our commitment to the industry and provide a great sense of fulfillment by helping a client realize its vision for a new corporate home. Isis Pharmaceuticals is one such milestone project. Isis exemplifies a successful, coordinated team approach to developing a design that both enriches the lives of its users and, most importantly, functions well in advancing the company’s research, thereby achieving the company’s ultimate goal of developing new and groundbreaking patient therapies. Already the Isis project has captured its first accolade -- being recognized by utility San Diego Gas & Electric as a 2012 Energy Champion for Sustainability and New Construction as part of its “Savings by Design” initiative -- further underscoring the campus’ “green” design credentials via the recent award of LEED Gold Certification. Inside this issue of Developments we offer a closer look at Isis. At all stages of DGA’s creative process, Isis’ scientific principles and corporate culture remained central themes – from development of the overall design concept to crafting circulation and collaboration areas that promote openness, ease of movement and a sense of community. Isis epitomized DGA’s Mission Statement – a building of rapport and trust with the client that jump starts a strong and collaborative design process. Together, we can then take the design in directions that wouldn’t have been possible without establishing that initial foundation. That relationship-building approach also aided the early brainstorming process. For this project, the entire A&E design team huddled with Isis executives for an intensive threeday design charrette that quickened the exchange of ideas and resulted in a highly innovative and effective Conceptual Design process. In an ordinary setting, what might have taken several weeks took only three days. While it is always a pleasure to work with our clients to deliver a new project, our involvement on Isis was particularly gratifying as DGA led the design of the entire campus – labs, interiors, buildings and site. The result is a landmark campus of which both Isis and DGA can be proud, and which San Diego’s North County community can appreciate as an enhancement to the architectural landscape for decades to come. In this issue, we’ll also introduce recently completed projects for San Diego Gas & Electric, StemCells and NOVO, illustrating both DGA’s vast range of work and the versatility of our design professionals.
A large courtyard situated between two wings of the Isis building provides a nice getaway on sunny Southern California days. The campus also includes a perimeter walking trail for employees seeking a little out-of-office diversion.
Heightened Collaboration at New Isis Campus Speeds Development of Anti-Sense Technology Drugs (Continued from Page 1) “Right from the beginning, Stan showed great leadership and his personal involvement kept us on course both during the charrette and throughout the design process,” Pomerenke says. “The result was a final building design that clearly reflects Stan’s vision for the company and has the Isis science at its core.” With 30% of the facility allocated to research, the Isis facility’s aroundthe-clock energy consumption averages 5 to 10 times that of a typical office space. So Isis jumped on board early with the San Diego Gas & Electric “Savings By Design” energy savings program. Isis’ initiatives included variable controls that allow the amount of heating or cooling to be reduced when not required, yielding both energy and cost savings through: • Variable frequency drives (VFDs) on two chillers, cooling tower fan, all pumps • Exhaust air valves (EAVs) fume hoods • Variable air valve (VAVs) handlers with demand control ventilation Other contributors to energy savings include: • 84% efficiency boilers • Cool roof with photovoltaic providing 6.5% of the facility’s power requirements • High performance glazing to minimize solar heat gain • Indigenous plants with smart irrigation system that adjusts depending upon the weather conditions
These energy saving features also contributed to the project attaining LEED NC Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. As with most projects, the schedule and budget parameters were tight. But DGA Project Manager David Keith says early coordination between the design team and General Contractor (DPR) – particularly during the preconstruction phase -- resulted not only in delivery of the building on time but also more cost effectively than a typical facility of this size.
“(DGA) listened to us and understood how we wanted our new building to enhance and enable scientific collaboration.” – Grant Bryce of Isis
Annual Meeting, Dr. Crooke told our shareholders that this building was a very positive environment for science and that our goals of bringing scientists from different disciplines together -- thereby encouraging innovation and discovery -- were being realized.” Bryce continues, “From the laboratories to the collaboration areas in our office areas and hallways, scientists, researchers and managers are communicating, sharing ideas, solving problems and discovering innovative drugs for patients in need of help. The design of this building is making a major contribution to our quest to provide therapeutic drugs for these patients.”
“Isis chose DGA to design our new research and development facility because they listened to us and understood how we wanted our new building to enhance and enable scientific collaboration,” says Grant Bryce, Isis’ retired Vice President of Corporate Development and Senior Legal Advisor. “At our
What is Anti-Sense Technology? Isis develops drugs that utilize antisense technology to block targeted mRNA gene sequences, thereby inhibiting the production of disease proteins to the therapeutic benefit of patients.
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Isis is the Egyptian goddess of magic and healing.
3-Day Charrette Forms the Building Blocks for Isis Campus Design The Isis design charrette was a three-day session which brought together design team and client representatives to rapidly define the Basis of Design, including all of the major program elements and sustainability goals. The objectives of the charrette were to abbreviate the standard Schematic Design phase, to build consensus on a design solution that would evolve over its duration and, on the last day, to present the recommended solution to Isis leadership for their buy-in.
DGA’s Steve Pomerenke (right) talks through some building concepts with Isis Chairman Dr. Stanley Crooke
Participants in the Isis charrette took a little time out during their busy session for a group photo.
DGA’s Kim Borgen helps to capture the discussion during the charrette.
Issue 09 _ march '13
Developments
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Newark, CA
A large breakroom / all-hands area with a partition is conveniently located adjacent to both the office and the laboratory areas.
StemCells Spreads its Wings in Newark Facility Life sciences company StemCells opted to “wing” it in determining how its new Newark facility should be designed. In late 2011, the company moved into a single wing of Building 5, occupying both the First and Second floors. The choice to occupy an entire wing (as opposed to an entire level) was driven by a decision to limit future disruption to the sensitive breeding rooms in the company’s research animal facility (RAF), which occupies almost half of the ground floor. The 8,000-square-foot RAF utilizes a disposable cage system with an efficient waterless chlorine dioxide rack decontamination chamber. Executive offices, the boardroom and reception make up the balance of the lower level. StemCells, Inc. utilizes stem cell biology to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutics and technologies for use in stem cellbased research and drug discovery. The company’s innovations treat conditions such as spinal cord injury, retinal disorders, Alzheimer’s, stroke, liver disorders and Hepatitis C. The upper level of the facility includes offices, research and support functions. The research area features large open lab suites with modules of three (3) and four (4) benches. The labs are open to the adjacent lab corridor with inboard glazing to allowing distribution of light into support areas. They also open to the lab users’ workstations, which
are concentrated at the end of the corridor and benefit from proximity to the windows. The decision to provide openness to the lab was driven by a desire to view lab activity and to highlight it as an essential part of the facility’s daily operation. Even areas where openness is restricted, such as the tissue culture suites, benefit from large sidelights. The office areas on the other side of the building feature the DIRTT modular wall system for both executive and shared offices. Interspersed among the offices are break-out areas with easy chairs and dry-erase boards to facilitate collaboration. A large breakroom/ all hands area with a partition is conveniently located adjacent to both the office and lab areas. StemCells was DGA’s second project at the Pacific Research Center – the 10-building, 1.4 million-square-foot former Sun Microsystems campus acquired by BioMed Realty Trust. DGA’s initial project was the new headquarters and manufacturing facility for Revance Therapeutics (featured in Developments, Issue 04) and the firm has since completed the design of a third project – the new headquarters and research facility for pharmaceuticals company Depomed. In relocating StemCells, DGA’s main challenge was fitting the research functions – particularly the lower level RAF – into a building designed for office use. The specific hurdle was accommodating the greater amount of infrastructure required to support
more frequent air changes and a more regulated interior environment, as the floor-to-floor heights in an office building are typically much less than those of a research building. Diligent coordination between DGA and the M/E/P design team enabled the large amount of ductwork to be carefully routed to maintain greater floor-to-floor heights in the critical areas – such as the lab and circulation spaces – and slightly lower heights in those less-trafficked areas. Ductwork was kept to a minimum in order to minimize the acoustical disturbance close to the sensitive breeding rooms, while the rooms themselves were also located strategically away from the mechanical units to further minimize noise and vibration.
HISTORY Back in 2000, a DGA team led by Ken Leong moved StemCells into the former SyStemix facility at 3155 Porter Drive on the Stanford Research Park (the same building that DGA has since re-designed as part of Stanford School of Medicine’s Technology and Innovation Campus). Ten years later, the appraisal of a number of new locations brought StemCells to Building 5 at the Pacific Research Center in Newark.
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Menlo Park, CA
N O V O K ee ps Ey e on t h e Goal Construction Firm Sees Basketball Court as Focal Point of New HQs In promoting itself as a young and vibrant company, NOVO Construction told DGA designers that its new Menlo Park headquarters needed to reflect its youthful personality. In 2011, after purchasing a twostory building in an existing office park which formerly housed manufacturing and office functions, NOVO hired DGA to guide the interior HQ renovation. This involved converting the space into two (2) separate areas, one for NOVO’s new offices and the other for a tenant space. A major focal point of the new facility is an indoor basketball court to be used not only by employees, but to host games as community outreach and to provide a gathering space for industry networking. With storefront windows and coffee bar seating, an adjacent break room serves as a prime viewing area for basketball games and a location for staging events and functions. Offices also surround the basketball court on the upper level, which is bathed in natural light from new skylights. From the Second Floor level, a low wall provides a direct look down onto the court. The visual connection of all of these spaces is intended to foster a sense of openness and community.
A basketball court serves the focal point of the new NOVO headquarters in Menlo Park. DGA also was asked to incorporate an iconic feature into its design, a large wooden slat wall similar to one in the lobby in the firm’s original Menlo Park facility. The wall had the company’s name encased within the pattern of horizontal slats and was lighted from behind. DGA took this idea and explored what the slats could convey – openness, transparency,
enclosure, mystery and movement. In developing the concept, designers wondered what would happen when the regular rhythm of the slats was interrupted and began to erode. Materials were selected for their timelessness and ability to continue the linear theme of the slats. This theme was carried throughout the intermittent pattern of the wood
ceiling that extends across the offices and over the basketball court, within the track of the recessed lighting fixtures and the window slots in the basketball court wall, and is reflected in the dashes of color in the carpet. The selected palette is modern but fun, with discreet placement of bold color throughout.
San Diego, CA
DGA and Sempra Companies: A Powerful Relationship DGA’s San Diego office has enjoyed a long-standing working relationship with utilities San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Gas Co. (SoCal Gas), along with parent company Sempra Energy. Extending back nearly as long as DGA’s San Diego office has been in existence (about 10 years), the firm has completed a number of building design and interiors projects for Sempra companies -from a complete “refresh” of Sempra Energy’s downtown San Diego headquarters building to an overhaul of SDG&E’s Beach Cities operations center, a facility from which utility workers are dispatched into the field. DGA also has designed a number of “mission critical” facilities – including a power Distribution Operations Center, a Grid Operations Control Room and a Mission Control
DGA Re-energizes Cafe for SDG&E DGA’s San Diego office recently completed a café refresh for local utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE). The 4,700-square-foot café, located in Building 6 at SDGE’s Century Park campus, was gutted and renovated to feature a new indoor dining area, kitchen and servery, a coffee kiosk, and an outdoor (fully landscaped) patio. DGA’s design components included: Use of sustainable materials wherever possible. Quartz counter tops in the server. A bamboo veneer wall between the servery and dining room, with clear resin panels embedded with reeds. A Terrazzo floor pattern (carried forward from a separate lobby
remodel) connecting to the new concrete patio. The pattern symbolizes the flow of energy through the power grid.
Weather Room -- where seamless communication and state-of-theart technologies are vital assets during significant weather events and California’s occasional power shortages.
“Considering its high visibility within the downtown San Diego skyline, the Sempra Headquarters refresh was a landmark addition to our design portfolio down here, and it led to many other projects,” says DGA
A bamboo veneer wall located between the servery and the dining room features clear resin panels embedded with reeds.
Managing Principal Nancy Escano. “But just as important are our designs of those behind-the-scenes type of operations, like Grid Ops, where seconds can really matter, particularly in emergency situations.”
Issue 09 _ march '13
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