Following our work with the Scarborough Health Network (SHN) on their Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms at the General Campus, SHN reached out to C& Partners Architects with an idea to build a clinical laboratory at the Sunnybrook Hospital Campus. This would serve as a much-needed extension to the existing Sunnybrook Lab while providing SHN the resources needed to conduct laboratory research and testing.
C& Partners first conducted a feasibility study to determine if the intended location was sufficient for a new laboratory building to meet the requirement. Working closely with staff, doctors, and directors from both SHN and Sunnybrook, C& Partners held several design workshops to determine the ideal layout for laboratory and service rooms, as well as the placement for all laboratory equipment to determine the optimal building design. While the immediate use of the lab will be for Covid-19 test processing, the requirements for the layout are to be flexible to serve future uses.
The design of the building footprint and massing corresponds to the multiple site constraints. After analyzing the existing site and its underground infrastructure, C& Partners worked towards creating a building mass that could be coherently integrated into the site.
Once the building footprint was established, our design team developed a façade pattern that would accent the building shape. A linear motif was incorporated using various tones of grey, with darker grey emphasizing the vertical linear repetition of the existing laboratory building located behind. A strong façade relationship was established between the new and existing laboratory buildings, creating a well-integrated overall design.
The structural system was designed to allow for an open lab space without the use of columns to easily accommodate modular lap equipment and allow for future flexibility.
Contrasting the typical notion of a laboratory building, our team designed a building that will feel warm and inviting to staff and researchers.
