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State of Indiana Forensic and Health Sciences Laboratory
Award of Merit: Higher Education/Research
The State of Indiana Forensic and Health and Sciences Laboratory in Indianapolis is reportedly the first nationwide to bring together primary facilities focusing on health, safety and crime analysis.
They comprise the Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana University Division of Toxicology together with the Indiana State Police Forensics Laboratory.
The building was designed with the work planned inside in mind. For instance, though the majority of the building is built on a grid, each wing’s exterior includes brick patterns and color arrangements that suggest shapes under a microscope.
Other elements are introduced into different areas of the façade’s grid. Seemingly random window bay elements protrude and recess from the second and third level glass areas of each wing. Against the background of order, these elements suggest the anomalies or disruptions that the building users are searching for.
The mass of the building is pushed close to 16th Street with a small entry plaza to reintroduce an urban character to the area. The parking and service components are relegated to back. The rotation of the geometry responds to the adjacent canal.
The project is further organized in two similar inverted wings, with dominant east-to-west orientations and a connecting “knuckle.”
The east-west arrangement allows for day lighting and views toward downtown. The knuckle serves as an entry and vertical circulation and was designed to promote professional and casual interaction.
Exhausting a Lab
The facility houses multiple laboratories that have different and elaborate exhaust systems.
With about 90% of the building’s supply air system exhausted out of the building to meet the design requirements, a heating hot water reheat coil was installed into the main exhaust plenum that reclaims the latent heat from the exhaust air that would normally have been exhausted to the atmosphere.
The facility has a large number of windows to take advantage of natural daylight and cut back on energy consumption. The southern rooms use light fixtures with a daylight responsive lighting control system that automatically shuts off when enough natural light is available.
During construction steps were taken to preserve the quality of indoor air for future occupants. The indoor air quality management plan minimized the use of adhesives, sealants, paints and coatings that contain high levels of volatile organic compounds, in addition to other initiatives.
Jury Comments: “It’s the first in the nation to bring together different uses. With bio-level three, you’re talking about serious mechanical and isolation measures. Design-wise, it’s a clean-looking package, yet they were able to incorporate design elements referencing biology. The have multiple users.”
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