University of North Carolina Genome Science Lab. Photo © Tom Rossiter
The design and construction of any building involves problem-solving. The design of an energy-intensive lab building, however, presents its own set of unique challenges — especially when that building targets sustainability. Further, it is meant to be the centerpiece of a larger development addressing pedestrian-traffic and stormwater-mitigation issues that go beyond the scope of an individual structure’s aesthetics and performance. Such was the test laid out for the architects at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) when they began work in 2004 on the Bell Tower District master plan for the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill and its ambitious Genome Sciences Building (GSB).