Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Building

“If you deliver us the same old box of a research building, you will have failed…” That was a statement relayed to our team by Mayo Clinic executive leadership during one of the initial meetings for the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Building, an 11-story translational research facility on the Mayo Clinic downtown Rochester campus. The challenge was to create an iconic symbol of the importance of Research as the third shield of Mayo Clinic’s mission—as important as the other two shields of Patient Care and Education. We were told to create a building that was “edgy” and “dynamic” that would “pulsate with life” at all hours of the day--a symbol of hope—the hope that the research within brings to life.

As an incredibly unique and complex project, the Kellen Building stands as that symbol because of the collaboration that occurred across disciplines to bring this vision to reality. The integrated, 174,000 square foot research facility includes incremental facilities for basic and translational cancer biology as well as other areas of scientific inquiry. As you arrive at the facility through the main entrance on the ground floor, you are engulfed in the experience of a science culture. From the lobby you grasp the quality of Mayo’s vision; the inspiration and activity of science is seen and on display. Additionally, welcoming social spaces in the lower levels encourage mixing, socializing, and intellectual discourse, intentionally bringing together researchers, clinicians, and other staff to foster collaboration--whether planned or spontaneous-- that can have a real effect on research outcomes. Utilizing a process that engaged Mayo Clinic’s hospital leaders, administrators, and researchers, the facility embraces new laboratory design paradigms in support of rapidly evolving translational research. The research environment employs an innovative risk-based zoning approach. This concept moves away from a one-size-fits-all approach and allows lab mechanical systems to be designed commensurate with the actual risk associated with the specific work. The “wet” and “dry” lab environments are organized in layers, with workplaces and open laboratories towards the perimeter and the more intensive laboratory support spaces located internally. Zoning the laboratory based on hazard level reduces the need for high-cost, high-intensity and hazard-intense lab space. Risk-Based Zoning transforms mechanical ventilation, electrical, and plumbing systems in research facilities, lowering construction and operational costs while improving energy efficiency. The low-medium-high risk/energy zone configuration facilitates efficient air transfer between zones, optimizing ventilation. Outside air is introduced through low and moderate spaces, cascading through the next consecutive zone, and ultimately exhaust exits through the high risk/energy zone via heat recovery, minimizing energy requirements. In creating the iconic double-skinned facade, our team of architects and engineers fulfilled the client’s vision while reducing heating loads and mitigating the effects of glare, increasing occupant comfort and providing for an interior environment awash in a veiled natural light. The façade also creates visual connectivity from the inside-out and the outside-in, allowing for science to be on display to the larger community--an exterior inspired by the innovative research happening within.