Insights Category: Design Innovation

Science and art are often seen as distinct disciplines, but for life science firms focused on discovery, the two can coexist, especially when the artwork can be appreciated for its emotional power.

Triggering an emotional response was exactly what Vigil Neuro was looking for when TRIA began the fit-out at its new research-based headquarters in Watertown. A biotech firm developing therapeutics for patients who suffer from rare and neurodegenerative diseases, the space aimed to daily remind its employees of their purpose.

How does creative design accomplish this? For Vigil, TRIA developed a warm, inviting and modern color palette to celebrate the people. Imagining the floor plan as a Nervous System for their microglia-focused science, neighborhoods were created to represent The Brain (lab), Neurons (open collaboration desks), the Spinal Chord (café), neurotransmitters and synapse (hallways that allow for serendipitous connections to other teams), and finally the Backbone (boardroom). Adjacent from the backbone, the foundation that supports the teams, a long corridor wall became the spotlight for the most inspiring design element in the 15,000-square-foot space: The Vision Wall.

Recognizing the power of art and its ability to inspire, Vigil and TRIA partnered to create an interactive 3D textile board in this corridor that aims to trigger an emotional response from employees, patients, caregivers and their families.

The installation is titled “Vision: A Brighter Tomorrow for People with Devastating Neurodegenerative Diseases.” It’s grand in scale, measuring approximately 28 feet wide by 8 feet high. Eleven wooden pegs are imprinted with strategically chosen “value” words–Trust, Vision, Inclusion, Compassion, Hope, Community, Transparency, Communication, Innovation, Urgency and Caregiver—and all surround a bigger center peg with the word Patients. By including all parties with whom their research affects ensures they are “doing it right” and “doing it together”, two Vigil staff mantras.

Users identify their individual values by wrapping a color-coded piece of yarn around the corresponding peg, allowing participants to reflect on what is important to them. As more users interact, the yarn pieces start to intersect and intertwine creating a web of truth and respect for the entire community, which symbolizes how “harnessing the power of microglia” can improve the lives of patients, caregivers and families.

Vigil Neuro incorporated other art installations throughout its space to inspire discovery and connection to its mission. For biotech firm Vigil Neuro, art inspires creativity, imagination, understanding, and expression; it stimulates dialogue and community, leading to innovation.

About TRIA
TRIA is a full-service architecture firm that values client relationships above all. The firm’s principal-driven approach puts our leadership team at the table with client decision-makers, working together to envision success, solve problems and deliver exceptional results. Our lab design and corporate interiors teams strive to learn every client’s unique DNA, and by doing so, we create efficient and energizing spaces that reflect a company’s culture and foster innovation. At TRIA, we design spaces that enable business success and advance discoveries – in the lab, around the office, and beyond.

TRIA, a principal-led architecture firm with a focus on designing unique spaces for science, technology, and corporate clients, is proud to announce it has formally signed on to the AIA 2030 Commitment to design carbon-neutral buildings by the year 2030. In addition, the firm has established 2-year goals to reduce the baseline carbon emissions on all its projects by 90%.

While TRIA has been incorporating sustainability elements and LEED-certified design for its clients’ projects since its foundation in 2015, the official pledge to align its framework with the AIA Standard for Design Excellence will provide clients with a new baseline when it comes to delivering TRIA’s scope of services. TRIA is designing all its clients’ workplaces at a minimum of LEED Gold certifiable, not only for the office but also for the lab and manufacturing facilities. Because lab facilities present a unique set of challenges, requiring five to ten times more energy per square foot to run than a corporate office, TRIA’s lab programming and planning expertise will be high-performance and low impact. Strong relationships with the industry’s most sustainable vendors and engineering partners give clients a comprehensive approach to sustainability and wellness.

As an industry leader in lab programming and planning and through the design of  over 12 million square feet of  lab and office space, TRIA has amassed robust database of information and is working with the AIA to update their laboratory energy usage metrics. We are helping the worldwide scientific community establish accurate baselines by consistently contributing data to the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL).

TRIA is dedicated to the AIA 2030 Commitment, from our design studio to your workspace, we are devoted to making the world a better place by promoting sustainability, health, and equity in the built environment–for the planet we share, the people we serve, and the purpose that unites us.

About TRIA
TRIA is a full-service architecture firm that values client relationships above all. The firm’s principal-driven approach puts our leadership team at the table with client decision-makers, working together to envision success, solve problems and deliver exceptional results. Its lab design and corporate interiors teams strive to learn every client’s unique DNA, and by doing so, they create efficient and energizing spaces that reflect a company’s culture and foster innovation. The result enables business success and advances new discoveriesin the lab, around the office, and beyond.

TRIA, a partner-led architecture firm with a focus on science and technology clients congratulates Vertex Pharmaceuticals on winning Engineering News Record’s Award of Merit for the tenant fit-out at  Innovation Square, now Leiden Center 1. Designed with Vertex’s mission in mind, the space provides open, collaborative office and labs which foster creativity and efficiency in the development of transformative medicines for serious illnesses.

After a complete programming and planning effort to define Vertex’s requirement and workplace strategies, TRIA provided architectural services for Vertex’s Leiden Center 1. The process, completed throughout the pandemic, was led by our lab-focused architectural team, who successfully implemented custom enhancements to the original core and shell design to make the space unique to Vertex.

Achieving LEED Platinum certification, this new state-of-the-art facility, a “Workplace of the Future”, features labs and manufacturing operations . For the remaining 40% of the office space, Vertex utilizes neighborhood-based office space with quick huddle areas, large and small conference rooms, a cafe with room for informal company meetings, a rooftop, a fitness room, an IT bar and coffee bar.

DPS Group, privately-owned, global engineering, procurement, construction management and validation (EPCMV) firm serving high-tech process industries, and design affiliate TRIA, a partner-led architecture firm with a focus on science and technology organizations bringing new discoveries to the market, congratulate CRISPR Therapeutics for being selected as the 2022 Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) category winner for innovation by the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) for the CRISPR Therapeutics manufacturing facility in Framingham, Massachusetts. ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards is an annual program that recognizes state-of-the-art projects utilizing new, innovative technologies to improve the quality of products, reduce the cost of producing high-quality medicines, and demonstrate advances in project delivery.

“Driven by our unwavering commitment to address patient needs, we are proud to be recognized by ISPE as 2022 Facility of the Year in Innovation for our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Framingham, Massachusetts that has been innovatively designed with flexibility and scale in mind,” said Stephen Kennedy, Head of Tech Operations at CRISPR Therapeutics.

Winners in the innovation category exemplify the novel application of process manufacturing techniques, innovative design concepts, new technologies and unique solutions that exemplify the next generation of agile, flexible, efficient and effective new and existing pharmaceutical and biotechnology facilities. This includes implementation of commercially available and custom developed equipment which yielded superior results, improved competitive position, and/or demonstrated imaginative collaboration with vendors/suppliers/manufacturers.

CRISPR Therapeutics is harnessing the CRISPR/ Cas9 gene-editing platform to develop gene-based medicines for patients with serious diseases.  The project was awarded a FOYA award for Innovation based on the innovative design of the facility, which provides an end-to-end solution for production and fills operations.

“We are very thankful for all our partners in this project. DPS did a great job with engineering and the design of the project and keeping the team integrated and coordinated even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” added Brad Ebel, Framingham Facility Site Leader at CRISPR Therapeutics. “We extend our congratulations to the full team who worked on this rewarding project.”

The ISPE FOYA judging committee was impressed by many facets of the submission, which included:

• Digital systems and automation at all levels of the operation allow continuous monitoring and efficient product production and release;
• A flexible utilization model allows for concurrent production of multiple products at different stages of development;
• Independent and/or redundant utilities supplying individual clean rooms allow for continuous production without the need for a facility-wide maintenance shutdown, and
• Facility Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide (FVHP) system to support rapid product changeover and reduction in the use of environmentally harmful chemicals.

The CRISPR Therapeutics manufacturing facility was designed thoughtfully and innovatively, and the ability of the facility to catalyze the promise of the technology impressed the judges. The facility is unique in utilizing a compact design with multiple independent production suites, each capable of producing a different product at a different stage of development while maintaining strict product segregation. The judges were particularly impressed with the use of a fully integrated digital stack that enables a small on-site warehouse to be continuously supplied from external sources yet still maintain uninterrupted production and testing operations. While the facility design was grounded in fundamental good engineering practices, there was intentionality in the flexibility of the facility that the committee found very innovative.

Following a series of user group meetings and executive workshops DPS was able to glean CRISPR’s operational needs which were then used to develop a best-in-class cGMP design for cell therapy and AAV production. The DPS team worked collaboratively with CRISPR Therapeutics on numerous process design layouts and scenarios to create spaces that will be flexible for years to come. DPS Group’s in-house experts were able to advise CRISPR on industry best practices across all engineering disciplines throughout schematic design, design development, and construction administration. Working with the CRISPR team as business needs evolved was essential to the project’s overall success.

Through group visioning sessions, executive workshops, and focus groups, TRIA identified the spatial and aesthetic needs for the quality labs and office space. TRIA’s lab and workplace design expertise and information collected during the visioning, programming, and planning process enabled the creation of an efficient and unique design. The open plan office and amenity spaces promote interaction and collaboration. The design embraces the abundant natural light and the exposed steel structure of the building. Glass walls are incorporated throughout to provide transparency, natural light and a connection between the office and manufacturing space.

Supply partners and key participants include:

• Manufacturer/Owner: CRISPR Therapeutics
• Architect: TRIA Design
• Engineer: DPS Group Inc.
• Owners Representative (OPM): Leggat McCall Properties LLC
• Construction Manager/General Contractor: Commodore Builders LLC
• Structural Engineer: Pare Corp.

Serving high-tech industries around the world, DPS Group delivers full-service engineering across a range of disciplines, including project management, procurement, design, construction management, health and safety management, commissioning, qualification, and validation (CQV), and facility start-up.