Key team members from BioLegend, Delawie, Hughes Marino, and DPR Construction gathered on Wednesday, August 2, 2017, on the BioLegend Campus in Sorrento Mesa to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new $100 million campus development.
BioLegend envisioned a campus-like environment that would foster a sense of collaboration and dedication to the biotech company’s mission to enable Legendary Discovery. They also wanted to build a sense of community, with uniquely positioned indoor and outdoor amenities worthy of attracting and retaining the best talent.
The 8-acre campus design includes a complete overhaul of three out of four older buildings along Terman Court. One demolished building will be replaced by the main campus building with an iconic 70-foot tall atrium as its focal point. From the atrium, BioLegend employees will access the upper floor labs, offices, break rooms and conference rooms. Delawie applied its understanding of the client’s process and workflow to form a building program that ultimately marries functional, flexible, and efficient lab space with inter-departmental collaboration. The placement of departments is deliberate and allows for productive workspaces – both creative office and private rooms for focused work.
A pedestrian bridge connects the atrium to the refurbished administrative and amenity building. The most sought after amenities, determined by their staff, will include a fitness center with locker rooms, a kitchen, a wellness bar, yoga rooms, a game room, and other amenity spaces that will encourage more collaboration and relaxation in between work week demands. 250,000 square feet of outdoor amenities will be key to employee satisfaction and will provide a place to relax or informally meet outside.
Forward thinking sustainable strategies will be introduced, including copious amounts of natural lighting through large windows and the atrium structure. An expansive green roof will visually mask the presence of a 500-person multi-purpose room built off of the main building.
A new seven-story, 700-space parking garage will be tucked behind the main building. The garage will support an extensive photovoltaic system and will provide electric car charging stations.
The landscape architectural details, designed by Schmidt Design Group,will include green roofs and drought-resistant, native species. The green roofs will filter and clean rainwater while insulating the roof from the sun’s heat. In addition, this campus will be stormwater-savvy by capturing and treating all on-site water.
The new campus will welcome BioLegend employees by the second quarter of 2019.
© 2017 Sandy Huffaker
