Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Building 33, General Purpose Lab
Berkeley, CA

In today’s research environments, collaboration happens everywhere; the new General Purpose Laboratory on Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s campus was designed with this paradigm in mind. Created to facilitate interaction between diverse research groups, the laboratory houses easily customizable labs and research space for approximately 130 researchers. Offices and laboratories are located adjacent to one another on each of the three floors, encouraging a natural workflow and spontaneous interaction. Open workstations allow for the penetration of natural daylight in column-free office areas. This feature, along with solar water heating, high R-value insulation, a cool roof, energy efficient lighting, and an interior light shelf combined with exterior fins, led to a LEED Gold certification for the building.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory General Purpose Lab currently houses groups from the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, the Life Sciences Division, and the Physical Biosciences Division. At the ribboncutting ceremony for the new building, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz remarked that the project represents “walking the talk in terms of [LBNL’s] own infrastructure renewal, having the highest standards and setting the standards for things like energy efficiency. It’s a great opportunity which brings together all of these themes.”