A Natural Way to Clad the Lab

Ultimately, the three-firm team consisted of two companies very familiar with state of Utah projects, with the value engineering necessary to make the stone component work on the building, along with a design architect with the experience to pull together a specialized project.

REFLECTIVE STONE

Joshua Gassman, project manager for Lord, Aeck & Sargent, the Atlanta-based firm that serves as design architect for the building, says that his company was initially selected as the laboratory architects for the job.

Click rendering to enlargeHe explains that the firm specializes in several areas, with one of them being dedicated to the design of research and science laboratories.

“We were initially selected to do the programming of the project as the laboratory architects,” Gassman says. “Everyone thought it was an amazing project – technically challenging, and on a beautiful site. Having been involved in the project from the programming phase, we were interested in being involved in the rest of the project, so we put our best foot forward and were lucky enough to be selected.”

Jack Robertson, project architect for Prescott Muir Architects, says his locally based firm was selected as associate architect because of its local expertise, including two other buildings at the University of Utah campus.

“Lord, Aeck & Sargent brings to the project specific experience in laboratory design, so they took the lead in the design of the laboratories and the overall expression of the building,” says Robertson. “We took the lead in the detailing and specification of the exterior skin.”

However, the desire to incorporate natural stone into the building’s exterior really came from several sources. McNary says the researchers who will ultimately work out of the Sorenson Building indicated they wanted something organic and suited to the local environment.

“Our campus is right on the edge of a national forest, and a lot of the people who work at the university are very much into the outdoors,” he explains. “They wanted something that reflects that; they wanted design features that relate to the outdoor environment.”

Gassman adds that the use of the stone also reflects the long history of masonry craftsmanship that appears in the area, first by Native Americans and later by masons – many from Europe – who helped settle the area as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“If you look at any number of local buildings, the craft is quite impressive in them,” says Gassman. “We wanted to build on that tradition and help tie the building to the local culture as well as to the site.”

FITTING THE CULTURE

Still, getting the stone to the building required a major effort by Layton Construction as the CMGC.

Kevin Charves, Layton’s project manager, explains his company has a history of doing projects for the state of Utah, and at the University of Utah.

“It was a value-based selection, and we won that competition in October 2008,” he says of the Sorenson project. “They had already selected the design team just prior to the CMGC selection, so we were brought on as the third team member to design, budget, and build the project.”

Among the extensive pre-construction services Layton provided to the project was advice on a suitable stone for the building’s exterior, says Gassman of Lord, Aeck.