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     According to Bob Wight, vice president and executive project manager at Linbeck, the building is where scientists and educators from the university and Texas Medical Center institutions will work together to perform leading research that benefits human medicine and health.

“Located at Main Street and University Boulevard, the 477,000-sf BRC will foster multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research both within the building itself and, by acting as a catalyst, more broadly through the 47 members of the world's largest medical center.

“The 10-story BRC is equipped for cutting-edge laboratory, theoretical and computational investigations and features eight floors of research labs, classrooms and auditoriums and is designed to eventually accommodate a visualization lab and a floor dedicated to biomedical informatics.”

  Wight says the BRC is the largest building Rice has ever undertaken. He says the BRC houses a 280-seat auditorium, a 100-seat seminar room, classrooms and 10,000-sf of retail space for a restaurant and shops, as well as three levels and 337,000-sf of underground parking.

“The 2.9-acre site includes the potential for a second research tower that could add another 150,000 gross sf,” he said.  “The building meets the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council and the team is applying for LEED Gold certification.

  “The BRC is serving as a magnet for medical researchers, bioengineers and scientists.  The design is interactive and, by design, the building will encourage communication and collaboration and contribute to greater cooperation among health care professionals.”

  Wight says a relatively new building process called "HyperTrack, was used to control costs, accelerate schedules and improve overall design quality.

“We shaved between nine and 12 months off the schedule using this approach,” Wight said. “The process essentially replaces sequential thinking with simultaneous decision making.  In this case, the project was broken into sequential packages so that construction activities began before the full design was complete.

“For example, the foundation was designed and construction began on that element while the design of the exterior envelope was still underway.

  “The project experienced 139 delays due to weather, including a six-week delay caused by Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Construction of the superstructure was completed in shifts to compensate for these unscheduled project interruptions.”

Founded in 1938, Linbeck provides project management, program management and construction management services.  The company has offices in Texas, California, Massachusetts, and South Carolina.     –ab

Professional Team:
Executive and Design Architect for the core and shell:

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Architect for the interior design:

FKP Architects
Structural Engineering:

Haynes Whaley Associates

Key Subcontractor:
Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Design:  BR+A