The AstraZeneca Quality Assurance Laboratory is both a new addition and a renovation of an existing space that totals 21,000 sf. As the new addition had to occupy a twenty-five foot courtyard, it was necessary to overlap an existing one-story structure in order to accommodate the full amount of space needed for programmatic functions. Other challenges included the need to separate the new building with two, three-hour fire walls while still maintaining an open plan. Additionally, the project had to be documented and constructed in a series of phases in order to accommodate the owner’s ongoing operations.

Program spaces include laboratories, administrative offices, a large conference area, a reference library, and ancillary/support areas. In response to the client’s desire for flexibility, growth and ease of information exchange, all the spaces were designed in an open plan with offices divided from the labs with floor-to-ceiling butt-glazed walls. The exterior walls have been penetrated by a new set of windows to allow light into this section of the existing building. Even the labs now have access to natural light through their glass walls reflecting a new design approach and client attitude toward the lab as a place of transparency.

The design is at once elegant and functional. The crisp glass walls and the open plan will allow for the continuing and future Quality Assurance operations while also setting a standard for the design of future labs at AstraZeneca.

Schedule: 12-month construction period in three phases in occupied space.

Sustainable Design Features:
Daylighting
Recycled material: carpet, millwork, steel, ceiling tiles