Kohn Pedersen Fox has designed a new state-of-the-art research and academic facility that will deliver Columbia Universty’s first purpose-built, all-electric lab building for the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The project will augment Columbia’s Plan 2030 for achieving campus-wide net-zero emissions by 2050. It boasts a system of air source heat pumps (ASHPs) that manage the building’s temperature controls in unison with a high-performance facade that offers an optimized window-to-wall-ratio under 50%.

“As an all-electric research lab building in a cold climate, the biomedical research building presented a particular challenge given high heating loads brought on by the ventilation requirements of the building’s program,” KPF’s Director and Head of Sustainability, Carlos Cerezo Davila, said in a project announcement. “This required us to design a building where the architecture and the mechanical systems work together in an integrated, energy-efficient whole, demonstrating that all building types — even the most complex — can be a part of a decarbonized built environment.”

The project was developed to serve as a new hub for biomedical research on campus, bringing together the adjacent School of Nursing and Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavilion into one cohesive unit for lab instruction and science.

Columbia says its design was developed via a sustainability and energy charrette that involved the project's sustainability consultant, Atelier Ten. Biophilic elements are incorporated throughout, along with an integrated pallet of renewable materials in the corner suites and collaborative spaces that are scattered throughout and unified by a large staircase designed to promote further social engagement.

“This new building exemplifies both the challenge and opportunity in designing for a zero-carbon future,” Nico Kienzl, the Director of Atelier Ten, added finally. “By eliminating fossil fuel use for this project, Columbia takes a bold step towards an emissions-free campus and implements the city’s vision of reduced climate impacts today. Combining rigorous analysis, advanced efficiency measures, and an all-electric plant, the building delivers a cost-efficient, high-performance design for such an inherently challenging typology.”

No construction timelines or costs for the project were made available yet.

Last week, KPF presented another academic facility design with a similar mission for the University of Michigan’s Detroit campus