The Dr. Paul Janssen Research Center is the new flagship drug discovery facility for Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Johnson & Johnson company. The 187,000-square-foot center collocates the functions of numerous smaller, outdated facilities at Janssen's Belgium headquarters under one roof in a completely new collaborative environment. The facility transformed the capacity for Janssen's active R & D programs that are the European counterpart to Janssen's and J & J’s La Jolla, California facilities. This project included all new construction that houses pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, genomics, bioinformatics, robotics, and animal facilities.
Over 250 researchers share the facility which includes three floors of labs, offices, support spaces and meeting rooms connected by an atrium. Most of the research spaces have been planned for flexibility, enabling researchers to relocate or redirect activities in each lab as new research initiatives are developed. This helps keep the technology in the building current and optimizes team proximity without difficult renovation. The open lab design and the relationship of the labs to the atrium also created a truly multi-disciplinary and collaborative environment where single purpose buildings had been the norm. Enhancing cooperation and communication was a primary principle guiding the design.
The lower level houses a complete specific-pathogen-free (SPF) animal facility which is divided into "full barrier" and "semi barrier" areas. The animal facility will include an array of procedure, testing, and in vivo lab spaces as well as office space with access to natural light.
Designed to be energy efficient per EPA/DOE Labs21 guidelines, the project was presented at a national conference as an international case study for achieving excellence in both design and energy efficiency. The new center was the capstone project to a multi-year period of intensive campus master planning, construction and renovation that required many smaller specialized and enabling projects, including a facilities for high-throughput screening, toxicology, and quality assurance and stability testing.
Page/SST Planners participated in all phases of the lab programming, planning and lab design for this project and was awarded a Certificate of Quality by Janssen. The design architects for the project were Cannon Design and Van Looy Group.
