When scientists carry out delicate experiments in bioengineering, linking components in an artificial heart, they can't afford to let every passing semitrailer truck rattle their instruments.
With that in mind, the new Biomedical Polymers Research Facility at the University of Utah uses reinforced steel and special structural concrete to ensure that the entire 131,000-square-foot building is rock-steady.The building is designed to house a cluster of the U.'s highest-tech labs, most of them working on the medical uses of plastics or related research. The $20 million building has five floors above ground, plus the basement.
"We have just completed the structure," topping out the concrete framework about a week ago, said Randall Funk, the U.'s coordinator for the project.
A number of research teams will work in the new building's laboratories, said Diane Cliff, marketing director for the architectural firm of Thomas Petersen Hammond & Associates, 350 E. 2100 South.
Lab work will include development of anticonvulsant drugs; medicinal chemistry; pharmacology and toxicology; orthopedic implants; robotic mapping of the human genome, which is the human DNA structure; kidney dialysis and kidney transplants; and work on artificial hearts and heart transplants.
This will be Utah's first major building to be dedicated to scientific research in these areas, she said.
For the past year, the facility has been under construction near the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, close to University Hospital. Workers from Jacobsen Construction Co. are now turning their attention to interior finishing.
According to Funk, university researchers should begin moving in to the new building in about a year. "It's on schedule, it's under budget and it's very high-quality work," he said.
In fact, the project, costing approximately $20 million, may be completed a little before the deadline, he said.
One impressive aspect of the work, Funk added, is that no state tax money went to finance the project. "The U. applied for a federal grant and got it, for a new facility," he said.
"It's a natural outgrowth of the University of Utah's research into kidney dialysis and kidney transplants and artificial hearts and heart transplants."
In order to lessen vibrations to almost nothing, it uses a special type of concrete flooring called "waffle slabs." The slabs have strong perimeters, with hollowed-out spaces in the center.
"That waffle configuration gives it nearly the same strength as if it were two feet thick, but it's much lighter," he said.
The project could have great long-term benefits in terms of defeating illness. Cliff cited information from the National Institutes of Health that every dollar the NIH invests in medical research produces $13 in savings in terms of fewer illnesses, fewer early deaths and lower medical costs.