New York Medical College’s new 18,755-square-foot Basic Sciences Building in Valhalla, New York, boasts modernized spaces and flexible shared research cores. — Courtesy: DIGroup Architecture
By Joshua Burd
New York Medical College has unveiled a newly renovated research space in Westchester County as part of a project designed by New Brunswick-based DIGroup Architecture.
According to a news release, members of DIG’s health care team were on hand recently to debut the new-look, 18,755-square-foot Basic Sciences Building in Valhalla. The firm noted that the enhancements, which represented a $6.2 million investment, have both modernized the existing research facility and introduced flexible shared research cores, bringing to fruition a project that began in 2019 but was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project was DIG’s seventh undertaken with Touro University, New York Medical College’s parent institution. Principal Bob Ryan spearheaded the assignment, for which the design firm served as architect of record.
“Like many existing academic and life sciences buildings targeted for renovation, the BSB is a highly active facility, so phasing — or the generation of swing space and close coordination of supply and labor procurement — needed to be addressed, tested and verified to assure a ‘near-zero-interruption’ level within the lab itself during this multiyear renovation,” said Ryan, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the health care architecture and life sciences field.
“In addition to ensuring the seamless work of the laboratory professionals, this approach minimizes the need for costly energy consumption and supply redundancies in the name of delivering the newest best practices for lab design, including modular benches and open layouts,” he added.
The new lab has multidisciplinary research space to accommodate up to 12 teams, DIG said, as well as shared instrumentation space and flexible casework systems. It also has high-end equipment such as biosafety cabinets, autoclaves and fume hoods as well as major energy reductions associated with high-efficiency mechanical equipment.
“These professionals are doing vital research in a shared physical space that fosters creativity, communication and a cooperative approach to research, both within and beyond these walls,” Ryan said. “The activities and studies being conducted in this facility produce vital data that informs the entire medical research community and therefore, the physical and mental well-being of a worldwide population.”
DIG noted that the lab’s next-generation design is attracting pharmaceutical and biomedical researchers across the region seeking to pursue their research in the college’s updated space. That aligns with New York Medical College’s paradigm for merging the academic and commercial spheres under the same roof.
“In addition to building a sustainable research pipeline, the BSB enhances the focus on community outreach — which mirrors DIG’s ‘Architecture for Change’ axiom,” Ryan said.
