SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- SmithGroup, an architecture and engineering firm, recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Molecular Foundry. The Foundry is a landmark for the State of California as one of the few facilities dedicated to nanotechnology, the study of materials at the atomic or molecular level, in the country. United States Representatives the Honorable Mike Honda and the Honorable Barbara Lee were among those expected at the event.
SmithGroup is one of only a handful of architectural firms in the country to design a building of this type. According to Jim Krupnick, LBNL’s project director, “The Molecular Foundry will be a national center for nanoscience: the design, synthesis and characterization of nanoscale materials. Nanoscience shows enormous promise for advances in medicine, computing, energy efficiency, in fact, virtually all fields of science.”
LBNL is already accepting applications from researchers across the country to work at the Molecular Foundry. Most will stay for a few weeks or months to work with the sophisticated equipment available at the site, helping speed innovation and collaboration for many companies. The building will include an electron microscope imaging lab and materials science, molecular biology, inorganic and organic chemistry, and computational laboratories.
The Foundry incorporates “green” design elements that will qualify it for a prestigious Silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System. The Foundry’s energy consumption is 30% below the state’s strict standards for laboratory buildings. Low emission and renewable materials, such as bamboo flooring, create a healthier indoor environment.
Construction will be complete in 2006.
LBNL, adjacent to the University of California, Berkeley campus, is the oldest Department of Energy national laboratory, producing nine Nobel laureates and many revolutionary advances across the spectrum of science in its 71-year history.
In addition to San Francisco, SmithGroup offices are located in Los Angeles, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Detroit, Madison, Phoenix, and Washington, DC.
SmithGroup, Inc. (http://www.smithgroup.com/ ) is the nation’s 6th largest architecture and engineering firm (Building Design & Construction, July 2003). As the oldest continually operating architecture and engineering firm in the United States, SmithGroup celebrated its 150th anniversary last year.
SmithGroup
CONTACT: Elizabeth DuBois of SmithGroup, +1-415-343-2038,Elizabeth.DuBois@SmithGroup.com
Web site: http://www.smithgroup.com/
