Preservation, Sustainability & Collaboration: The New Allen Institute HQ Opens

This Friday, The Allen Institute officially opens it's new six-story, 270,000-square-foot headquarters at 615 Westlake Ave. N. The new building will give the Allen Institute for Brain Science and Allen Institute for Cell Science the room to consolidate in a place that includes dry and wet labs, data center, auditorium, 9,000 square feet of retail and four levels of underground parking. Notable out front is the Ford McKay Building terra cotta facade that was painstakingly deconstructed and restored. Inside, the design orients labs like flower petals around a large light-filled central atrium. The intended effect is to make it like the inside of a bee hive where researchers can see each other and what they are doing, making the space more collaborative and transparent. The complex is also tracking to LEED-Gold and Salmon Safe certification and energy captured from the data center will help heat the building while rainwater cistern will recycle water for landscaping. Perkins + Will is the architect and GLY Construction is the general contractor.

· New Allen Institute Building Unveils Historic Terra Cotta Facade [CS]
· Allen Institute opens Friday [DJC]