At three stories tall, the facility is intended to function at the scale of a house, with research labs located on the first and second floors; and a specialty lab on the third floor. The second floor is the connective tissue between all the scientists in the labs, and provides a crucible for building a sense of community purpose, exchanging ideas, and facilitating creative thinking.

The labs are linked to the collaboration space with an internal convenience stair near the center of the building and a double- height space with stepped seating at the north end. Both have ample width and intermediate landings to increase the opportunity for chance encounters and to encourage exclusive use of the stairs rather than relying on elevators for vertical circulation throughout the building. In addition, taking the stairs will help foster healthy living and will give scientists an opportunity for easily meeting colleagues who work in the other labs.

The second floor contains two creative collaboration spaces and are the heart of the building. A new café with seating / meeting areas and wall surfaces is adjacent to a landscaped roof terrace above the new loading dock. This outdoor break area provides a respite from the hermetically sealed and conditioned spaces found throughout the rest of the building.

The lab spaces are designed to allow for maximum flexibility in planning. Open lab floors allow variety of types. Many labs are potentially the full width (62 feet) of the building. The specialty lab has direct access to roof penthouse for future mechanical system modifications.

The DNA Learning Center Lab is located near the center of activity, at the south end of the building adjacent to first floor lobby. This facility will be used to educate high school and college groups about DNA and genetics. During the school year, multiple student groups can visit throughout the day. In the summer, several sessions of day campers will occupy the space for more in-depth exposure.

Modernize Louis Kahn's only built synagogue? We do stuff like that.

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