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Located on the campus of the University
of Minho in Braga, the 230,000-square-foot project (21,400
square meters) will feature Class 100 and 1000 clean rooms,
central characterization, including electron and
scanning-probe microscopy and labs suited for a wide range
of scientific disciplines.
Besides the main scientific building that will be the hub of
the 12-acre campus, the first phase of the project includes
residential accommodations for staff and visiting
professors. The second phase will include a business
incubator and a nanotechnology interpretive center. When
completed in 2009, the INL will employ several hundred
people, including 200 scientific researchers.
In addition to its leading-edge science, the INL also will
stand out for its striking design, with curving lines that
dramatically conform to surrounding topography and offer a
compelling contrast to traditional research facilities.
“When we were tasked with creating a beautiful place for
thinking, we knew we had our inspiration for the project. It
was easily the most poetic aspiration for architecture we’ve
ever heard. This evoked images of monastic cloisters, and
naturally suggested using the project to shape and protect
such a space from its busy, urban setting,” said M+W Zander
architectural design leader Ken Filar, AIA.
The efficient, aesthetic design of INL, which was chosen in
a competitive review process, resulted from the creative
collaboration between M+W Zander’s U.S. and European
offices. The architectural design and construction
management are led by M+W Zander US Operations. M+W Zander’s
European staff, based in Stuttgart, Germany, the corporate
home of M+W Zander, will share engineering responsibilities
with the North American office.
“M+W Zander’s unique strengths really shine in a project
like this,” said John Busch, the project design manager for
M+W Zander US Operations. “We not only have unmatched talent
in the design of nano facilities, but we can synchronize the
assets of multiple offices around the world to offer
something no other firm can.”
The INL project confirms M+W Zander’s position as one of the
world’s most experienced firms in design and construction of
nanotech research facilities. It also expands M+W Zander’s
global presence in this highly specialized field. INL joins
the National Nanotechnology Laboratory in Moscow, part of
Russia’s Kurchatov Institute, as an example of M+W Zander’s
capacity to deliver top-tier nanotechnology facilities
worldwide.
M+W Zander’s
portfolio of nanotech projects also includes:
* The Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National
Laboratory, Argonne, Ill.
* The Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
* Albany NanoTech Complex, University of Albany-State
University of New York, which was ranked No. 1 among global
nanotech facilities by Small Times magazine in 2007
* The Nanoscale Research Facility, University of Florida,
Gainesville, Fla.
* The Nanotechnology Research Center Building, Georgia
Institute of Technology, Atlanta, which will be the largest
nanotech research center in the Southeast United States when
completed this summer
* The Neuroscience and Biomedical Technology Research
Building, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and
* The Research & Development Center Relocation and
Renovation, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, San Jose,
Calif.
About M+W Zander
With its subsidiary companies, MWZ Beteiligungs GmbH, based
in Stuttgart, offers worldwide integrated business solutions
for company facilities, high-tech production plants and
industrial complexes. The Group focuses on the electronic,
solar, pharmaceutical, chemical industries, research
institutes, the energy sector and production of cleanroom
components. Facility management forms an additional focus.
In 2007, M+W Zander generated sales of about 2.1 billion
euros with around 8,200 employees.
About M+W Zander
US Operations
M+W Zander US Operations is a full service architecture,
engineering and construction services firm based in Chicago.
Operating in the U.S. since 1941, the firm specializes in
complex, technically challenging projects for clients in
electronics, life sciences, emerging technologies and
scientific research. |
