Overview
The headquarters for Human Genome Sciences (HGS) is located on the Traville campus, encompassing over 147 acres and central to the I-270 technology corridor. The campus development is designed to support over a million square feet of corporate office and pharmaceutical investigation and production space. Planned facilities include seven buildings, two parking structures and a central energy plant.
HGS’s mission, centered on the Traville campus, is to develop cures for disease using new gene-based medicines and to manufacture and sell those gene medicines for patient care. HGS is one of the first biotech companies to use new, cutting-edge genomics technologies to develop novel drugs. Major partners in HGS’s success include the likes of SmithKline Beecham, Merck and Schering-Plough.
The Solution
As the project developed it quickly became apparent that HGS wanted to make an architectural statement with the development. The initial development of three buildings stands out as completely glazed structures of up to six floors. The subtle curves of the all glass façade can be viewed from miles away. The central headquarters building is central to the campus flanked on one side by a research facility and on the other by a manufacturing building. A 1600 space parking structure resides adjacent to the facility.
Engineering Highlights
- Site supports all corporate functions as well as seminar/lecture rooms, validation, quality control and data collection/processing.
- Central utility plant contains 7500 tons of cooling capacity and 3000 horsepower of steam generation.
- Multiple air handling systems supplying over a million CFM of conditioned air.
- Specialized process utilities to support pharmaceutical research and development.
- Primary power supply through high voltage feeders and multiple substations. Total connected load exceeds 15 megawatts.
- 4160 volt emergency power generation and power distribution.
- Extensive use of transient voltage surge suppression equipment and UPS systems to enhance power quality and reliability.
People & Technology Leveraged
RMF’s team included master planning specialists, infrastructure and laboratory engineers, as well as experienced construction/commissioning technicians. The team worked on-site with the core HGS team and the construction manager, project architects and multiple sub-contractors. The consistent site based team resulted in a highly successful project which exceeded HGS’s expectations.
The project was one of the first in the region to utilize 3D design for the fabrication of critical engineering systems. The design process allowed the contractor to establish a site based fabrication shop to construct modular components in a control environment to improve both construction efficiency and quality. The results exceeded everyone’s expectation.
