Release date: May 8, 2006
PNNL selects national architectural firm to develop design for replacement facility
RICHLAND, Wash. – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has selected Flad & Associates, a national architectural and engineering firm based in Madison, Wis., to design a new federal laboratory and office building that will partially replace critical capabilities being shutdown as a result of the federal government's cleanup activities at the nearby Hanford Site.
The Physical Sciences Facility will house PNNL's nuclear and radiological capabilities. PNNL must move out of its existing facilities on the south end of the Hanford Site by the end of 2010 as part of the Department of Energy's cleanup plans for Hanford. The PSF is one of several new federal and private replacement facilities that will be constructed on PNNL's main campus in north Richland, a couple of miles south of the Hanford Site.
Flad & Associates will develop preliminary and detailed drawings for the PSF, a $224-million, 335,000-square-foot facility that will be funded by DOE's Office of Science, the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. Construction is expected to begin in early 2008.
As part of their design team, Flad has subcontracts with Merrick & Co., of Aurora, Colo., for radiological facility design work; Affiliated Engineers of Seattle for mechanical, electrical, and piping planning and design; and M.H. Chew & Associates Inc., of Livermore, Calif., to provide hazards analysis, documented safety analysis and safety-related design reviews for the project.
"The PSF will contain research capabilities that support the U.S. government's missions in detecting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, verifying compliance with international treaties, and advancing environmental remediation," said Mike Lawrence, deputy laboratory director for campus development at PNNL. "Scientists also will use the PSF to conduct dosimetry and other important homeland and national security research."
Established in 1927, Flad is a leader in the design of highly technical research facilities. The firm has planned and designed more than 30 million square feet of new laboratories since the early 1980s. Flad has been recognized with more than 160 awards for design excellence including six projects, which have been recognized as Laboratories of the Year by R&D Magazine, a leading professional magazine.
PNNL employs more than 4,200 staff, has an annual budget of more than $725 million, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965.