Biolabs

The site in Massachusetts included two Victorian mansions surrounded by a manicured lawn. To the client, the new laboratory should not alter the “natural environment.” Our impression, however, was one of great artificiality. The project stemmed from the idea of horticulture, like biotechnology, an example of the “natural-artificial” blur. The new cultivation areas houses underneath them the perfect volumes of the laboratories. The roofs continue the existing pedestrian landscape, forming a labyrinth of pathways. A large cylindrical glass passageway united the two Victorian buildings, passing through the various laboratory rooms, offering visitors the experience of moving through a representative section of the building and the activity within. Aside from small crops associated to the laboratories, the ground floor that extends over the roof of the building houses other activities, such as exercise loop, mini-golf, etc.