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Building a facility is never about the facility itself. The people living inside or the businesses operating within those walls are the impetus for any construction project. It’s no different with the new Max Planck Florida Institute facility being built at Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter, Fla. The new building marks the German-based Max Planck Society’s entrance into the U.S. market. The prominent institution focuses on cutting-edge research in the neurosciences and integrative biology and its addition to the Florida coast progresses Palm Beach County’s overall plan to cultivate a science and technology hub.

Max Planck selected joint-venture team Weitz/DPR as the general contractor. “The Weitz/DPR team looks forward to its role in building another chapter in the development of the life science industry in Palm Beach County,” says Deborah Beetson, regional manager of DPR Construction’s West Palm Beach office. “Being selected is important in a context larger than the news of our companies being charged with the construction of the Max Planck Florida Institute building. This contract is an important step in building lasting relationships with world-class research institutes like the Max Planck Society in this sector.”

It is also the second project of its kind located on FAU’s MacArthur campus. In 2009, Weitz/DPR completed a 350,000-square-foot research facility for Scripps Florida, which is adjacent to the Max Planck facility. Scripps originally planned to build on an off-campus site. The organization later nixed those plans and instead built on FAU’s campus for one of the same reasons that Max Planck has chosen FAU as its location – to speed up the construction process.

“We already have a master plan in place,” says Scott Baruch, FAU director of planning. “On some other sites they would have to go through that whole process through the local government to determine impact to infrastructure, the sewer, the water, the traffic and so on and so forth. We’ve already done that. With our master plan, we’ve already negotiated all the impacts and made sure that all of our infrastructure is in place for future growth.

“To build on FAU property, you don’t have to do any of that because it’s all been done and so you can pretty much take that whole part of the schedule out. They can design the building and start building without any zoning work,” Baruch continues.

Baruch explains that completing permitting and zoning work for large construction projects in Florida can take years. Going through FAU and its process saves much of this time. The institution will lease FAU’s land but lead the design and construction process. FAU will participate in cursory design reviews. It’s not imperative that the design mimic other campus buildings, but Baruch says they do need to integrate into FAU’s master plan, as well as the larger master planned community where FAU resides.

“Normally when we build a project, we are the design and construction authority over the whole thing,” Baruch says. “We didn’t control every aspect of this because it is their investment, but we did do cursory design reviews to make sure they respect the campus. This campus is part of a whole master plan project called Abacoa, which includes the town center and residential areas, a baseball stadium used for MLB spring training and green land. We wanted to make sure it respected that, as well.”

A Design of its Own

The 100,000-square-foot research facility is being erected on the southern end of the campus. It was designed by Washington, D.C.-based ZGF Architects LLP. ZGF Principal Bryan Cannon explains that the Max Planck organization commissioned a design with traits reminiscent of its German facilities with clean lines and intuitive, logical design. “They were very interested in having the building look like the kind of facility they conduct their work in at home,” he says. “It’s a very easy to understand and very rational architecture. Even the ornamental pieces serve purposes such as mitigating the strong Florida sun.” Jones Long LaSalle is the program manager and the local firm PGAL is the associate architect. Along with Weitz/DPR as construction manager, the entire team is responsible for completing a state-of-the-art and environmentally responsible center.

More than half of the space is dedicated to laboratory space to house wet and dry bench research, instrumentation labs, computation research, core imaging facilities and microscope suites, information technology services and offices for researchers and support staff. The scientific facilities are divided into three research wings, including six guest labs to facilitate collaborative research with other scientists, such as those in the nearby Scripps center.

The design also includes conference rooms, a 100-seat auditorium, lounges and administrative offices that circle around a central lobby that connects all three levels. An atrium connects to an outdoor terrace and the building’s perimeter is defined by tropical landscaping and outdoor seating.

The building is designed and being constructed to LEED Silver standards – which is an FAU campus mandate. Rich Hubacker, ZGF associate partner explains that the main sustainable features focus on the building envelope, energy efficiency and water usage.

“Laboratories are notorious for being high energy users,” Hubacker says. “The typical lab uses five to 10 times as much energy as an office building of the same size and the reason it is so intense is because you have so much more stringent air-change requirements.” Despite the laboratories’ high energy demands,  the building’s energy models show a 25 percent improvement in energy use over the standard baseline  facility. 

The building will be fitted with sunshades as well as a special glaze that lets in the abundant South Florida daylight, but blocks out light spectrums that contribute only to heat gain. Maximizing the daylight exposure coupled with sophisticated lighting controls will help reduce electrical use. One of the largest factors contributing to reducing energy use results from the heat recovery system or energy recovery wheels that will recapture the building’s used heat and then pre-cool and dehumidify it to be recycled back into the building’s cooling system.

Reducing potable water use took interior and exterior measures. Through low-flow, high performance fixtures, the facility reduces water use by 49 percent. The lush landscaping incorporates palm trees and other native species that require little irrigation, reducing irrigation needs by 63 percent. Also, Max Planck will acquire its irrigation water needs from a municipal water reclamation center.

Construction Progress

As of early December, the building’s skin and envelope were nearly complete. The exterior is fashioned from a combination of glass, sunshades and aluminum paneling. Baruch says the team is immersed in installing the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, which is work that tends to be much more intensive in science and technology buildings that tend to use larger amounts of energy and other resources.

When the building is completed in April 2012, current Max Planck staff will move from their temporary 40,000-square-foot home also located on FAU. Max Planck and FAU formed an operating agreement stipulating FAU will have flexible use of 10 percent of the building for its science department. The agreement reflects the overall cooperation of Palm Beach County and the scientific community. The Governor’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development contributed $94.1 million though an Innovation Incentive Fund. Palm Beach County contributed $86.9 million to Max Planck, of which $60 million went directly to construction. Jupiter waived $260,000 in impact fees and FAU offered the six-acre site rent-free for the next 50 years, an estimated $6.3 million value.

“To have both these institutions – Scripps and Max Planck – on our campus is a great opportunity for us,” Baruch explains. “We are focused on quality, and that includes our research program and strengthening our research program. The model we are looking at is what happened when Scripps moved to San Diego, and now they have world-class hospitals and drug companies and all types of spinoff companies investing in the city. San Diego created a huge hub that created economic opportunities for the whole area. We are hoping the same thing will happen here.”

With the Max Planck facility following on the heels of the Scripps building, coupled with FAU’s collaborative science department, it seems the school’s construction strategy is on the right track.