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HOK 2021 Design Annual
https://www.hok.com/design-annual/2021-reframing-a-sustainable-future/
Research Complex Design Competition for Confidential Client

Research Complex Design Competition for Confidential Client

Asia
  • Design for Integration Design for Equitable Communities Design for Ecosystems Design for Water Design for Economy Design for Energy Design for Well-Being Design for Resources Design for Change Design for Discovery
A thoughtful process that balances beauty and function. Looking beyond the current client to positively impact future occupants and the community. Benefitting both human and nonhuman inhabitants over time. Responsible use of this precious natural resource. Adding value to the owners, users, community and planet. Reducing energy use while enhancing performance, comfort and enjoyment. Supporting holistic health for occupants and the community. Using materials that minimize environmental impact while improving performance. Allowing for adaptability, resilience and reuse over time. Using lessons learned to advance the profession and produce better buildings.

The design nestles this R&D complex into a crescent-shaped valley in a clearing at the base of a mountain range. It’s a jewel in the forest.

Blending the new R&D complex into the natural world supports the company’s goal of driving discovery and innovation.

The architecture, interiors, building systems and landscape work together as a timeless composition to put employees at ease. Surrounded by nature, they can relax and think more creatively. The stunning outdoor landscape inspires them as they conceive ideas for changing the world.

read caption +
HOK Design Principal Paul Woolford describes the design vision for creating an architectural landmark for a leading global company.
read caption +
The main R&D center’s three diamond-shaped pavilions feature 250,000-sq.-ft. concentric floor plates that merge to form one contiguous floor plate. This blurs boundaries between the pavilions and promotes serendipitous encounters and discoveries. Occupants experience a sense of perpetual motion that pushes them forward and stimulates innovative thinking.
read caption +
Design Principal Paul Woolford provides a tour of the building.
read caption +
The design orients building footprints to provide maximum exposure to the natural surroundings. The three diamond-shaped pavilions of the main R&D center each have views to the outdoors including vistas on all sides.
At One With the Environment

The form and undulating roofscape are in harmony with the surrounding hills. Structured openings in the building form incorporate light, air and the landscape as essential design elements, offering occupants direct access to nature.

As a companion to the main complex, the sub R&D building embraces the hillside from which it has emerged. Its stepped terraces are landscaped with vegetation, gardens, paths and outdoor seating areas that act as extensions of the natural green hillside.

Connecting 10,000 Innovators

The design of the main R&D complex ensures that the company’s people are connected. They all benefit from ample daylight, openness, and physical and visual access to their colleagues and outdoors.

The efficient plan ensures that every desk is within 46 feet of the building’s perimeter, giving everyone access to views outside and the amenities placed around the building perimeter. People can walk around the outer perimeter of the building—from corner to corner in every direction—in less than a minute.

Inclusive Workplace

The strategy of providing neighborhood-based environments creates micro communities within the larger floor plates and connects everyone with central amenities.

The design creates a neurodiverse-friendly workplace that enables people from diverse backgrounds to thrive. Employees can choose their appropriate work environments for each task. Spaces are optimized for acoustic quality, thermal comfort and daylighting. They can easily adapt to the needs of both hypersensitive and hyposensitive occupants.

read caption +
Design Principal Paul Woolford explains the building organization and program.
read caption +
Amenities that support employee health and well-being include healthy dining options, fitness centers, gardening areas, walking trails, a health clinic, nap nook, prayer room and yoga room.
Science on Display

The design challenges preconceived notions of a typical scientific research facility, putting science “on display” by maximizing transparency and integration between labs, offices and public spaces.

Public-facing technology labs, high-tech product displays, and science-inspired artwork blend the research activities into the building design.

Biomimicry

Responding to the temperate broadleaf forest biome, the architecture derives its form from a response to the changing seasons, position of the sun and interactions with the landscape.

The building design takes cues from the native pine forest and the indigenous Eurasian magpie, emulating the local architectural vernacular. Pine trees are a primary landscape element that helps the mixed conifer deciduous forest grow quickly and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These pines also absorb and distribute water across the site.

Dynamic louvers that open to provide natural ventilation control the EFTE panels above the central atrium. These emulate the magpie, which has wings that lock in place as they spread and open. The changing, iridescent colors found in magpie feathers also informed the colors of the dichroic glass facades.

read caption +
HOK Director of Regenerative Design Sean Quinn describes an example of how the site's ecology informed the design.
read caption +
The structural form uses a hybrid timber-steel system made up of steel columns with glulam bamboo beams. This reduces the building’s material use and embodied carbon.  
read caption +
A responsive building form and energy-efficient facade are optimized for shading and daylight. A central atrium incorporates daylighting and natural ventilation. Each intersection between buildings features a climatically-driven double-skin facade.
read caption +
Director of Regenerative Design Sean Quinn shares insight into the performance-based design process.
Biology as Technology

The LEED Platinum design is net-zero ready. It attains the highest level of sustainability for research campuses.

The team borrowed from the natural intelligence and systems of the site—the forest, meadows and water—to create a holistic sustainable campus. The ecology of the site and the technology of the buildings interface with and support each other. Biology becomes technology.

On-site renewable energy will generate up to 15 percent of the building’s predicted annual energy use. A roof integrated PV system is coupled with solar thermal panels to satisfy the building’s electric and thermal demands.

Comprehensive Water Systems

The mountain provides water through rain and snowmelt that collects in seasonal lakes at the top of the hill and runs down into the valley. Retention ponds and ‘underground rivers’ capture this mountain runoff at the edge of the campus.

This water, along with treated wastewater, irrigates the surrounding forest landscape, helping to regenerate the valley. In this circular system, the building and the site are inextricably linked. They feed off and rely on each other.

Underground basins store water for irrigation. Paired with advanced building technologies, this water also provides sources of thermal storage and exchange storage. It helps cool the buildings in the summer.

A blackwater treatment system, infiltration system, and collecting pools and cisterns position the complex to achieve net-zero water use.

read caption +
Sean Quinn, director of regenerative design, describes the interconnected water and energy system strategies.
Pedestrians First

The plan prioritizes pedestrian safety, comfort and efficiency.

All employee parking is underground, allowing for a car-free landscape. The carefully designed campus plan eliminates the need for even small personal electric vehicles.

Open staircases are strategically located at nodes within each of the building pavilions, as well as along the atriums.

Resilient for the Future

The design treats the company’s land as a precious asset. Consolidating the new main R&D center and sub R&D facility preserves a large portion of the campus site for future development. With a carefully phased construction approach, the site will accommodate needs the company cannot predict for years to come.

The highly flexible interior space will allow the company to adapt to whatever the future brings.

Project Credits
San Francisco studio
Sherwood Design Engineers
Interface Engineering
Expertise
Architecture, Consulting, Engineering, Health + Well-Being, Interiors, Landscape Architecture, Planning + Urban Design, Sustainable Design
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Group 8 Group 8 Copy

Research Complex Design Competition for Confidential Client

Asia
  • Design for Integration Design for Equitable Communities Design for Ecosystems Design for Water Design for Economy Design for Energy Design for Well-Being Design for Resources Design for Change Design for Discovery
A thoughtful process that balances beauty and function. Looking beyond the current client to positively impact future occupants and the community. Benefitting both human and nonhuman inhabitants over time. Responsible use of this precious natural resource. Adding value to the owners, users, community and planet. Reducing energy use while enhancing performance, comfort and enjoyment. Supporting holistic health for occupants and the community. Using materials that minimize environmental impact while improving performance. Allowing for adaptability, resilience and reuse over time. Using lessons learned to advance the profession and produce better buildings.

The design nestles this R&D complex into a crescent-shaped valley in a clearing at the base of a mountain range. It’s a jewel in the forest.

Blending the new R&D complex into the natural world supports the company’s goal of driving discovery and innovation.

The architecture, interiors, building systems and landscape work together as a timeless composition to put employees at ease. Surrounded by nature, they can relax and think more creatively. The stunning outdoor landscape inspires them as they conceive ideas for changing the world.

read caption +
HOK Design Principal Paul Woolford describes the design vision for creating an architectural landmark for a leading global company.
read caption +
The main R&D center’s three diamond-shaped pavilions feature 250,000-sq.-ft. concentric floor plates that merge to form one contiguous floor plate. This blurs boundaries between the pavilions and promotes serendipitous encounters and discoveries. Occupants experience a sense of perpetual motion that pushes them forward and stimulates innovative thinking.
read caption +
Design Principal Paul Woolford provides a tour of the building.
read caption +
The design orients building footprints to provide maximum exposure to the natural surroundings. The three diamond-shaped pavilions of the main R&D center each have views to the outdoors including vistas on all sides.
At One With the Environment

The form and undulating roofscape are in harmony with the surrounding hills. Structured openings in the building form incorporate light, air and the landscape as essential design elements, offering occupants direct access to nature.

As a companion to the main complex, the sub R&D building embraces the hillside from which it has emerged. Its stepped terraces are landscaped with vegetation, gardens, paths and outdoor seating areas that act as extensions of the natural green hillside.

Connecting 10,000 Innovators

The design of the main R&D complex ensures that the company’s people are connected. They all benefit from ample daylight, openness, and physical and visual access to their colleagues and outdoors.

The efficient plan ensures that every desk is within 46 feet of the building’s perimeter, giving everyone access to views outside and the amenities placed around the building perimeter. People can walk around the outer perimeter of the building—from corner to corner in every direction—in less than a minute.

Inclusive Workplace

The strategy of providing neighborhood-based environments creates micro communities within the larger floor plates and connects everyone with central amenities.

The design creates a neurodiverse-friendly workplace that enables people from diverse backgrounds to thrive. Employees can choose their appropriate work environments for each task. Spaces are optimized for acoustic quality, thermal comfort and daylighting. They can easily adapt to the needs of both hypersensitive and hyposensitive occupants.

read caption +
Design Principal Paul Woolford explains the building organization and program.
read caption +
Amenities that support employee health and well-being include healthy dining options, fitness centers, gardening areas, walking trails, a health clinic, nap nook, prayer room and yoga room.
Science on Display

The design challenges preconceived notions of a typical scientific research facility, putting science “on display” by maximizing transparency and integration between labs, offices and public spaces.

Public-facing technology labs, high-tech product displays, and science-inspired artwork blend the research activities into the building design.

Biomimicry

Responding to the temperate broadleaf forest biome, the architecture derives its form from a response to the changing seasons, position of the sun and interactions with the landscape.

The building design takes cues from the native pine forest and the indigenous Eurasian magpie, emulating the local architectural vernacular. Pine trees are a primary landscape element that helps the mixed conifer deciduous forest grow quickly and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These pines also absorb and distribute water across the site.

Dynamic louvers that open to provide natural ventilation control the EFTE panels above the central atrium. These emulate the magpie, which has wings that lock in place as they spread and open. The changing, iridescent colors found in magpie feathers also informed the colors of the dichroic glass facades.

read caption +
HOK Director of Regenerative Design Sean Quinn describes an example of how the site's ecology informed the design.
read caption +
The structural form uses a hybrid timber-steel system made up of steel columns with glulam bamboo beams. This reduces the building’s material use and embodied carbon.  
read caption +
A responsive building form and energy-efficient facade are optimized for shading and daylight. A central atrium incorporates daylighting and natural ventilation. Each intersection between buildings features a climatically-driven double-skin facade.
read caption +
Director of Regenerative Design Sean Quinn shares insight into the performance-based design process.
Biology as Technology

The LEED Platinum design is net-zero ready. It attains the highest level of sustainability for research campuses.

The team borrowed from the natural intelligence and systems of the site—the forest, meadows and water—to create a holistic sustainable campus. The ecology of the site and the technology of the buildings interface with and support each other. Biology becomes technology.

On-site renewable energy will generate up to 15 percent of the building’s predicted annual energy use. A roof integrated PV system is coupled with solar thermal panels to satisfy the building’s electric and thermal demands.

Comprehensive Water Systems

The mountain provides water through rain and snowmelt that collects in seasonal lakes at the top of the hill and runs down into the valley. Retention ponds and ‘underground rivers’ capture this mountain runoff at the edge of the campus.

This water, along with treated wastewater, irrigates the surrounding forest landscape, helping to regenerate the valley. In this circular system, the building and the site are inextricably linked. They feed off and rely on each other.

Underground basins store water for irrigation. Paired with advanced building technologies, this water also provides sources of thermal storage and exchange storage. It helps cool the buildings in the summer.

A blackwater treatment system, infiltration system, and collecting pools and cisterns position the complex to achieve net-zero water use.

read caption +
Sean Quinn, director of regenerative design, describes the interconnected water and energy system strategies.
Pedestrians First

The plan prioritizes pedestrian safety, comfort and efficiency.

All employee parking is underground, allowing for a car-free landscape. The carefully designed campus plan eliminates the need for even small personal electric vehicles.

Open staircases are strategically located at nodes within each of the building pavilions, as well as along the atriums.

Resilient for the Future

The design treats the company’s land as a precious asset. Consolidating the new main R&D center and sub R&D facility preserves a large portion of the campus site for future development. With a carefully phased construction approach, the site will accommodate needs the company cannot predict for years to come.

The highly flexible interior space will allow the company to adapt to whatever the future brings.

Project Credits
San Francisco studio
Sherwood Design Engineers
Interface Engineering
Expertise
Architecture, Consulting, Engineering, Health + Well-Being, Interiors, Landscape Architecture, Planning + Urban Design, Sustainable Design
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