CNSI Building Plans: Schematic Design

Architect: Rafael Vinoly Architects - 3/22/2002

Rafael Vinoly Architects have completed the schematic design phase for the new CNSI building on the UCLA campus. The very innovative design spans an existing parking structure allowing for a large laboratory floor plate above, with vibration sensitive labs in the basement floors. The building's primary design theme is to encourage interactivity between researchers. This reflects the goals and character of the institute itself, where researchers are crossing traditional disciplinary boundries to interact in new and innovative ways.

Frequently asked questions regarding the construction and design of the CNSI building:

1. What is the square footage of the whole building?
178,000 GSF (gross square footage) 2. What is the square footage of lab space?
116,000 assignable square footage (asf) What types of facilities will be in the building? Information Technology Infrastructure
- Imaging and Spectroscopy
- INMOS (Integrated Molecular Systems Facility)
- Incubator Labs
- 4,000 sq. ft. Data Center
5. What is the INMOS (Integrated Molecular Systems Facility) facility? UCSB and UCLA will each build user facilities designed for linking top-down semiconductor fabrication with biologically and chemically assembled molecular materials. The new facilities will complement and enhance existing infrastructure at both campuses. The current UCSB facility, part of the NSF National Nanofabrication Network, is primarily designed for compound semiconductors. The expanded facility would enable the coupling of (bio)molecular, biomimetic and mesoporous materials with NEMS. The current UCLA silicon fabrication facility will be expanded to couple silicon processing with (bio)molecules and physiologically active cells. Both campuses will focus their efforts on process development rather than just device fabrication.
5. What is the square footage of the INMOS (Integrated Molecular Systems Facility) facility on the UCLA campus? ~11,000 asf

6. What class of Clean Rooms will CNSI have?

Class 100 and class 1000 7. What is the timeline for the buildling's completion?
-The building design was assigned Spring 2002
-Ground-breaking of the building is scheduled for Fall 2002
-The building completion is projected by Winter 2004 9. Will the vibrations from the parking structure affect the building? The CNSI building has been carefully designed to mitigate acoustic noise, low electrical noise, and vibrations by locating sensitive

10. What special considerations were made within the building?

Encouraging interaction between researchers across desciplines was the primary driver of the building design. Some of the elements supporting this dialog are:
- 6 central conference rooms
- indoor and outdoor interactive spaces
- hallways of interactive space that will have white boards and plenty of seating overlooking the Court of Sciences
- exhibition space on a ground floor lobby
- outer terraces
- 260 seat theater
- open labs

11. What is an open lab?

Floor 7 has an open lab plan, which means 3-4 labs will be in the same room. The lab space is ~10,000 sq. ft.