Yale University - Biology Building (YBB)

Pursuing USGBC LEED Gold Certification

The Yale Biology Building (YBB) will house numerous functions associated with the biology departments at Yale University.  The Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) department will be the primary occupant; however, the facility will also provide space for the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) department and the Yale Animal Resources Center (YARC).  In addition to these functions, the facility will provide the northeast quadrant of Science Hill with an underground service node providing, loading dock facilities for YBB, Gibbs, Kline Geology Lab and the Peabody Museum.

The biology-based research labs have been designed for maximum flexibility to accommodate the ebb and flow of the sizes of the faculty research groups within the MCDB department; hence large open labs were preferred for this reason.  The support labs have been designed to accommodate the unique aspects of each research while minimizing the number of enclosed rooms. 

The building is organized as two efficient lab bars on either side of a central atrium.  The atrium will serve as a social center for the sciences located along Whitney Avenue and will connect to the courtyard at the top of Science Hill with a bridge.  A “coffee shop” will be provided on the third level of atrium providing easy access for researchers from other buildings on top of the hill to socialize with the occupants of YBB.

The building will house three primary areas of research for MCDB; Cellular & Developmental Biology, Biochemistry and Plant Biology.  During the initial program development, it was noted that senior faculty within the MCDB Department were retiring and new faculty hires were requiring larger labs with more researchers to be competitive.  In addition to the growth, the need for flexibility was becoming even more critical. 

The research areas for MCDB are comprised of 28 faculty labs with an average of twelve researchers each for a total of 336 research stations.  Each research station has an allocation of four linear feet of bench space for write-up area, nine linear feet of research bench and 20 linear feet of support space.  Due to the nature of the research and the equipment used, support space is provided at a two to one ratio to primary research space.

Lab Planner/Interior Architect: Freelon
Design Architect: Pelli Clarke Pelli
Architect of Record: Kendall Heaton