Inspired by the collaborative nature of the Human Genome Project where researchers from around the world share their findings over the Internet daily, the architectural resolution was conceived as an incubator for the cross-fertilization of ideas. The design promotes interactions amongst the researchers through both small and large meetings rooms, generously sized laboratories, a central café, open circulation systems and a light-filled atrium with lounges.
The six-storey structure is treated as an urban infill project to relate to the historic context of Montreal. The massing is broken down into three elements: a three-storey metal-framed glass box, a two-storey solid masonry base, and the metal-clad penthouse. The glass box element houses the Genomics Centre and Proteomics Centre research laboratories and offices. The lower portion of the building extends out onto the campus side, its upper surface adapted for an elevated terrace. The western façade establishes alignments with the adjacent buildings to the north and south.
Three main interactive spaces - the public passage, the atrium, and the teleconference room - create a building that not only functions as an instrument for knowledge, but that is also embedded with spatial strategies to counter the temptations of unbridled ambitions that may arise from isolated research. A public passage allows the general public and students to pass through the building and acts as a constant reminder to the scientists that their work is connected to humanity and the world. A three-storey light-filled atrium space promotes interaction between scientists, students, staff and visitors. The Teleconference Room, which intersects the atrium, is expressed as an oculi on the exterior and symbolically is conceived as as a window of social responsibility.
Throughout the scheme, the material and optic qualities of glass as reflector, irradiator, and projector of light and motion are explored - as both conceptual surface for bio-scientific exploration, and as a metaphor for observation. The canted planes of the west façade are clad with mesh scrim to filter the glare of the low altitude afternoon sun, and to conceal an irregular pattern of window openings which are only visible after dusk. On the east façade, the mullion patterns trace the internal spatial program to reveal, as it were, the building's genetic code: grid lines reflect the walls inside, and dark blue and green glass panels signify the volumetrics behind the glass.
View Original