Advancing Investigations into Human and Animal Health

Supporting Interdisciplinary Work

The VBRB is expanding expectations for interactive research as home to WSU’s Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience. Physiologists, neurologists, and psychologists all come together here to cross-pollinate their expertise and explore the complex relationships between mind, body, and behavior as never before.

The building’s highly strategic environment incorporates numerous innovations to optimize the efficiency and productivity of its full spectrum of users. Each discipline has its own distinct needs, so increasing interaction, sharing resources, and promoting community required new ways of thinking.

Emphasizing transparency and connections, bands of open labs and offices extend through the building and alternate with bands of enclosed offices and specialized lab support spaces. Shared equipment zones are provided via an equipment corridor connecting the research “neighborhoods.” Generous daylight and views enhance these work environments, and informal meeting spaces promote interdisciplinary engagement.

Sustainable Design

This state-of-the-art facility incorporates many sustainable design elements tailored to eastern Washington’s high-desert environment and performs 40% better than similar research buildings. Key integrated strategies include heat recovery, chilled beam cooling, abundant daylight harvesting, and a highly insulated building enclosure.

Forming an empirical basis for design decisions, we integrated a rigorous analysis of climate, energy use, daylighting and water conservation with the functional requirements of a contemporary laboratory building. Leveraging a long history of collaboration with the University of Oregon’s Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory (ESBL), we used computer simulations and physical models to test, re-test and validate proposed solutions.