McCarthy Completes Construction Of CDC Research Laboratory
Lab One of Eight in North America Built for Study of the Most Infectious Pathogens
Atlanta - McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has completed construction of a $165 million Centers for Disease Control and Prevention facility that dramatically increases the agency's capacity to respond to the world's most dangerous infectious pathogens.
Located on the CDC's Edward R. Roybal campus in Atlanta, the new Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory is a Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) facility that CDC researchers will use to study and develop responses to many of the world's most infectious diseases. BSL-4 laboratories are the highest-containment laboratories in existence. The facility is set to open in the fall of 2005; construction began in October 2001.
The new 12-story, 400,000-square-foot structure and an attached five-story facility also include Biosafety levels 2 and 3 laboratories, adjacent office areas, analytical equipment labs, molecular biology suites, and a central glass washing facility. More than 450 CDC researchers will work on infectious agents such as HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and tuberculosis. Researchers also will study acute infectious diseases as part of the government's bioterrorism preparedness program.
Construction of the BSL-4 laboratory required specialized equipment and high-quality construction techniques, including an absolute air-tight environment, said Eddie Harris, the McCarthy project director. To that end, McCarthy executed a series of rigorous procedures to test the internal components of areas including air pressure-resistant doors and windows, Bio-seal air dampers, sealed electrical and plumbing penetrations, and HVAC controls to ensure the final product met the standards of a BSL-4 containment facility. McCarthy also developed computerized drawings of every foot of conduit and piping to model how each piece would interconnect and fit into the area's concrete containment structures without causing cracking.
"CDC's work with highly infectious agents requires the highest levels of safety and quality," said Edward H. Stehmeyer, Jr., director of CDC's facilities planning and management office. "McCarthy was selected for the firm's experience and thorough understanding of high-containment lab construction and delivered the extra coordination necessary to build a state-of-the-art, secure facility."
The project included construction of a central utility plant, which will house all mechanical, electrical and plumbing requirements for the new laboratory and other buildings on the CDC campus. The Atlanta office of CUH2A was the main architect on the project and Smith Carter, of Atlanta, designed the BSL-4 spaces.
"This was a highly technical and sensitive job that required massive coordination of every program component, from the installation of the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems down to the concrete mix that we selected," Harris said. "With more than 40 years of construction experience in the laboratory environment, McCarthy was able to draw on our best practices to complete a secure, aesthetically pleasing laboratory in which researchers are expected to discover important health findings for years to come."
Since its establishment in 1946 to help control malaria, CDC has remained at the forefront of public health efforts to prevent and control infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, workplace hazards, disabilities, and environmental health threats. Today, CDC is globally recognized for conducting research and investigations and for its action-oriented approach. CDC applies research and findings to improve people's daily lives and responds to health emergencies.
McCarthy currently has more than $800 million in construction contracts for laboratories throughout the United States including a BSL-4 facility on the campus of Boston University and a BSL-3 Ag facility for the United States Department of Agriculture in Ames, Iowa. McCarthy also recently completed other state-of-the-art laboratory construction projects, including Cornell University's Duffield Hall, one of the country's most sophisticated research and training facilities for nanotechnology; the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a research facility dedicated to the study of how plant science can be used to improve human nutrition and the sustainability of agriculture worldwide, in St. Louis; Uncas A. Whitaker Hall for Biomedical Engineering at Washington University; and the University of California Parnassus Services Building in San Francisco.
SOURCE: McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.