Broaddus & Associates served as project manager to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (UTMDACC) for the construction of a new laboratory research facility at its Smithville, TX campus.

The Virginia Harris Cockrell Cancer Research Center at UTMDACC (Science Park) is a basic science research campus located in the Lost Pines region of Central Texas. The campus offers a unique setting for research, education and conferences.

Our firm was retained for the Laboratory IV building, which was the fourth facility in the Science Park. This new state-of-the-art research laboratory building is 23,000 SF, with 16,228 SF dedicated to laboratory space. The building is composed of two mirror-image lab spaces designed in the modular “plug and play” concept with overhead carriers to provide gas, vacuum and electrical outlets. The open labs incorporate an equipment corridor that accommodates commonly used equipment, such as refrigerators and -20° freezers. In the center of the building are closed specialty rooms that house a centralized liquid nitrogen freezer, glassware preparation, chemical fume hoods, bio-containment hoods, common use equipment and flex space.

All laboratory spaces have expansive views to the outside with access to natural light, as do the faculty offices, the staff kitchen and the conference room. While the interior centerpiece of the building is a central rotunda with clerestory lighting, the rustic exterior is designed to seamlessly blend into the pine forest environment. The facility also provides accommodations for growth in existing research programs.