PNNL plans $9 million collaboration center in Richland

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has requested bids for the design and construction of yet another new building, this one to be called the Collaboration Center.

It is part of a 12-year, $300 million plan, started in federal fiscal 2013, to construct new facilities and modernize existing structures.

About a building a year is going up, said Steven Ashby, PNNL director, at the Tri-Cities Regional Economic Outlook in Pasco on Wednesday.

The conceptual design for the Collaboration Center has been completed, calling for a 22,000-square-foot building on the north end of the PNNL campus in Richland. It would be north of Horn Rapids Road in front of the Physical Sciences Facility.

The cost is estimated at between $9 million and $9.5 million.

“We need the ability to host larger scientific meetings,” Ashby said.

In 2011, the Department of Energy national laboratory in Richland found itself in the somewhat embarrassing position of having to bring in a “circus tent” for a symposium on batteries for energy storage, he said.

The conference was based at the Battelle Auditorium with breakout sessions held across the PNNL campus. Without the tent, there was no space large enough to serve lunch.

The Collaboration Center will be used for large symposiums and for the increasing number of meetings among researchers in different disciplines and working for different agencies as complex science requires more collaboration. The laboratory now lacks space for people visiting the lab to discuss joint research proposals or projects.

About 2,000 scientists, engineers and others visit PNNL annually, with each visitor spending about $200 a day in the Tri-Cities, Ashby said.

The lab administration wants flexible space within the building so it can be reconfigured quickly to meet changing needs. PNNL also will look for a sustainable, energy-conserving design with building materials to be identified in the proposals submitted by companies interested in the project.

It will have deli food service daily and the capability to support caterers for large events.

Construction could start this year and be completed by fall 2017.

Unlike the Battelle Auditorium, where some symposiums are held now, the Collaboration Center will not be available for public gatherings.

The center would be the fourth building constructed under the 12-year plan.

The Systems Engineering Building was dedicated in August, and a new general chemistry laboratory is under construction by contractor DGR*Grant Construction of Richland. The $7.5 million building will have 10 chemistry labs and cover 16,000 square feet. It is expected to open in the spring.

In December, PNNL awarded another contract to DGR*Grant Construction for a $9.5 million, 26,000-square-foot office building. Construction is expected to begin next month. It should be ready to provide office space to about 100 employees involved in energy and national security research in early 2017.

All four of the buildings are located on a portion of the PNNL campus owned by DOE north of Horn Rapids Road, and they will be owned by DOE. The PNNL campus also includes buildings owned by contractor Battelle and leased buildings.

Money for the project is coming from the lab’s annual operating budget, bolstered by operating efficiencies.

The lab employed about 4,400 people in 2015, up from 4,300 the previous year. But the building program is not driven significantly by growth, said Larry Maples, associate laboratory director for operational systems. Older buildings may not be adaptable to the needs of modern scientific equipment.

“It is about modernizing the campus,” he said.

Some older facilities will come down during the next five years. PNNL is making the transition out of the Resource Technology Laboratory now.

The 12-year strategic building plan has allowed PNNL to move forward more quickly on new construction, Ashby said.

The plan has been a collaboration among officials at PNNL, the DOE Pacific Northwest Site Office and DOE in Washington, D.C., said Julie Turner, the DOE PNSO team lead for capability stewardship.

It is revisited every year, adapted to changing needs and presented to the DOE Office of Science, she said.

Ashby briefly discussed Wednesday what might be next for the PNNL campus at the Tri-City Development Council conference.

“We also are planning a new energy science facility. We don’t have funding for that but we are hopeful,” he said.

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 7:57 PM with the headline "PNNL plans $9 million collaboration center in Richland."