Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
The Novartis Pharmaceuticals Building (Building 335) provides researchers flexible office environments and collaborative spaces which assist in the development of new cancer treatments. The Novartis Pharmaceuticals Office Building, part of the Oncology Consolidation Project, reimagines the paradigm of the building as a box. Taking the master plan’s rectilinear form set forth at 275 feet long, 100 feet wide and 75 feet high, the 140,000-square-foot building translates the client’s initiative to create flexible and collaborative work environments. Five floors of open office work areas are connected by an ascending spiral of “living rooms” with continuous vistas to the generous 230-acre campus. Marked by wood finishes, column free spans, and low-iron glass, the “living rooms” provide a clear and continuous common ground for distinct research groups to interact with spaces that accommodate formal, informal, and spontaneous activities, facilitating the exchange of ideas and encouraging connectivity.
In counterpart to the vertically ascending spiral are the interconnected open floor plan workstations, “enclaves,” and conference rooms arranged around the central core spaces. All workstations are less than 30 feet from the exterior façade, providing natural daylight and views for all occupants. Raised floor systems within the open plan office space provide ductless pressurized air distribution to enhance the building’s energy efficiency and allow for flexibility in workstation organization.
The custom-designed and technologically-advanced aluminum curtain wall at the open office spaces adds a level of domestication to the building through the use of soft, oscillating bands of acid-etched glazing. The reflective nature of the façade produces a chameleon-like effect, translating the chroma of the ever changing environment onto the massing of the building, creating a reading of solidity in contrast to the void formed by the low-iron glass curtain wall along the ascending “living rooms.” The Novartis Pharmaceuticals Building facilitates connectivity to both the landscape and the neighboring office buildings, allowing for occupants from multiple sectors within the campus to gather and collaborate in a new working environment.