We are pleased to announce Payette has been awarded the Columbia University Earth Institute Halliday Laboratory Renovation. Located in the Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building designed and completed by Payette in 2008, the project will provide additional clean room research space and renovations for the existing Mass Spectrometer laboratories needed for the new director for the Earth Institute & Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory.
Since it opened in 2008, the Gary C. Comer Building has been nationally recognized as a model for innovative laboratory planning and sustainability. The building is home to more than 70 geochemists who investigate all aspects of the planet, including the dynamics of the solid earth, circulation of the oceans and atmosphere, and transport of materials via wind and water. To support these explorations, the building features an array of highly technical chemistry and equipment labs, which have been consolidated into an efficient two-story block that contains complex mechanical and control systems. The remainder of the building’s program, consisting of offices, meeting rooms and support spaces, occupy a three-story atrium wing that incorporates design strategies to reduce energy consumption.
We look forward to working with the Columbia University Earth Institute on developing creative solutions that will produce new and renovated laboratory spaces for cutting-edge research.
This Earth Week, we’ll be covering five landmark buildings exemplifying new approaches to building performance and sustainability.
The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Klarman Building is the first hospital in the northeast to implement chilled beams in an inpatient setting. Early energy analysis demonstrated that the use of chilled beams would be the best way to reduce building energy use.
For this strategy to work, however, the peak thermal loads of the façades could not exceed the capacity of the chilled beams. An integrated design approach and in-house modeling allowed for constant tuning of the façade to optimize glazing, solar exposure and massing. The building orients glazing to face true north and south to minimize heat gain and maximize occupant comfort, resulting in a 15% reduction in peak solar load.
Beyond performance, the distinctive serrated terracotta façade reflects the scale and cadence of individual patient rooms, providing a delicate scale and texture to the façade.
#earthweek #designalways #buildingscience #performalism #facade