Virginia Tech Integrated Life Sciences Building

Blacksburg, VA

O’Donnell & Naccarato provided structural engineering services for Virginia Tech’s Integrated Life Sciences Building’s two-story, 77,000 SF laboratory building that includes vivarium facilities, as well as other wet and dry laboratories, teaching research and lab support spaces, offices, and common areas. The ILSB houses four colleges with faculty conducting research in cardiovascular disease, cancer, muscle physiology, virology, neuroscience, aquaculture, metabolism, obesity, healthy ecosystems, and community health.

To accommodate highly sensitive microscopes, the second floor framing design was reinforced to meet strict vibration criteria of the equipment. The project was also divided into two sections, a conventional office area building, and the laboratory wing. The two wings were connected by a two-story atrium that “popped” above the adjacent roofs of the wings to allow more natural light into the space.