Here Comes the Neighborhood

Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital

The laboratories in Research Building III are separated from adjacent offices and collaboration spaces by full-height, fritted glass partitions, in order to maximize visual connections and collaboration.

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In Research Building III, the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a leading center for translational research, integrates computation with traditional wet laboratories to drive breakthroughs.

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With frosted glass walls that double as a dry-erase board, the two-story collaboration spaces are designed as hives of activity linking various departments and driving interdisciplinary research.

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Staff lounges and kitchens on every level are filled with daylight.

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The envelope contributes to sustainability, with a glass curtain wall facing north and east for indirect daylighting, and precast concrete panels where sun exposure is greatest. The facility is expected to achieve LEED Gold.

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The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is at the forefront of integrating traditional laboratory research with computation and mathematics, enabling breakthroughs in scientific research that improves children’s health.

Having tripled in size in only ten years, the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital needed to expand its capability to pursue cutting-edge research — especially as mathematics and computational science become increasingly important. The new Research Building III facilitates this with a unique laboratory layout and welcoming collaboration spaces.

The lab benches are organized in “neighborhoods” of four Principal Investigators each, clustered together with all ancillary services: offices, conference rooms, lounges, and lab support. These neighborhoods are linked by double-height collaborative spaces that prevent any one lab group from being isolated within the building. The result is more seamless integration between departments, such as the Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine, a crucial element of the institute’s research strategy.

Sustainable Design

Designed entirely in three-dimensional computer models, the mechanical systems are expected to achieve energy savings as much as 30% over ASHRAE 2007 standards. These savings, so difficult to achieve in a research facility, are accomplished in part by heat exchangers that capture heat energy from exhaust air, and also by separating technicians' workstations from the laboratories, allowing them to have lower HVAC requirements.

The building envelope also contributes to sustainability. A refined glass curtain wall faces north and east, toward the existing campus, in order to illuminate the interior with indirect natural light. To the south and west, insulated precast concrete panels enclose the building where solar exposure is greatest. In general, floor-to-floor glass aligns with the laboratories to bring in maximum daylight, while private offices have more suitably scaled windows.

Currently the building is on target for LEED Gold certification.