Purdue University, Flex Lab Facility

A super-flexible lab layout defined by re-combinable bench space and support labs, high-bay research space, low vibration basement labs for optics, and a complementary landscape of hoteling offices, open work areas, hot desk space and “work cafes” addresses the constant evolution of the engineering disciplines.

Lab and work areas are visually connected by uninterrupted floor-to-ceiling glass that brings in daylight, puts research on display and reinforces an exciting sense of common intellectual pursuit. This transparency, coupled with Flex Lab's efficient plan, is carried into the simple form of the three-story building.

A glass and aluminum curtainwall shifts in and out to accommodate work areas along the facade. The wall is punctuated by brick planes that break up the long facade and make the simple diagram of the plan legible in the building form.

The brick ties the building to the architecture of the main campus while the curtainwall, with its textured pattern of mullions, relates to Flex Lab's immediate surroundings in Discovery Park, the area south of Purdue's main campus where the standard of red brick and limestone has been relaxed to allow a more modern expression. The building is positioned to create a western edge to the Discovery Park's wedge-shaped lawn while setting up a future expansion to the west.