An important project for Rhode Island’s largest city, TenBerke with Ballinger’s 300,000-square-foot new Life Sciences Building for Brown University in the downtown Providence Jewelry District, has been updated along with new renderings, project details, and expected 2027 completion date.

The William A. and Ami Kuan Danoff Life Sciences Laboratories will be a seven-story facility designed to host four major research programs near the university’s medical school.

One of the first all-electric buildings in the state will be run on 100% renewable electricity. Brown says it will have special hydraulic equipment that will help decarbonize other buildings connected to it around the site in the revitalized district’s urban grid. The design integrates with the street-level with a café and public patio. Wet labs will be situated inside a perimeter line of glass enclosures, while dry workspace for researchers will be protected from daylight deeper in.

This supports the research activity of 75 principal investigators. TenBerke’s Noah Biklen (himself a Class of 1997 alumnus) says, "We started from the idea that science is a collective endeavor, and therefore a social one."

"We're introducing new ideas of transparency and connection in terms of how a research building engages the street, where there’s a real sense of permeability to the shared public realm," his statement continued. "We're very excited about how, architecturally, we've been able to create an attractive, sustainable research environment for scientists that will also serve visitors and the broader community for years to come."

The update follows an 18-month community feedback-driven design and planning engagement whose process was begun following the October 2022 announcement.