Work Category v2: Science + Technology

Actnano, a global leader in PFAS-free nanocoatings for automotive and consumer electronics, develops innovative technology that provides advanced protection from water and harsh environmental conditions. To accommodate the company’s increase in staff and customer growth, they needed a new global headquarters and state-of-the-art laboratory.

When repositioning a building previously used as a bank’s operations center for future science and technology tenants, TRIA collaborated with the owner and actnano to assess potential options. This involved facilitating preliminary fit planning and program development. Once an option was approved, TRIA continued to provide full architectural and engineering services to this third-floor suite.

Collaborative, innovative and driven, the staff at actnano now enjoys working in one office that is modern and impressive. The amenity spaces intertwine opportunities for team collaborations and company-wide events. The plentiful natural lighting, scenic views, as well as natural elements and materials, underscore their commitment to offering sustainable products to their customers.

This new location expands actnano’s footprint tenfold and features an extensive array of development and testing equipment.

Design Highlight:

TRIA drew inspiration from actnano’s brand logo for crucial design elements. The distinctive blue hue serves as an accent throughout the office and laboratory areas, unifying them and enhancing the sense of a cohesive research community.  Additionally, the overlapping rectangles in the logo informed the sculptural wall treatment in the main corridor: three angled bump-outs introduce visual interest and dimension.

Abcam identifies, develops, and provides high-quality biological reagents and tools essential in a wide range of fields and applications, including drug discovery, diagnostics, and basic research. Abcam’s mission is to serve life scientists so they can achieve their mission, faster.

Through extensive visioning with the Abcam team, their new Waltham headquarters was designed to promote an open and collaborative team environment. Abcam’s science is on display throughout the office and café. Using glass-paned walls to separate the spaces preserves their vision of transparency. The open office features several huddle rooms and conference spaces, promoting a collaborative atmosphere that offers flexibility and connectivity. Lounge spaces and amenity spaces with ample seating encourage officewide communication, as well as areas for the Abcam team to recharge.

The new headquarters features a clean, minimal color palette, vibrantly accented by various pieces of furniture. Walls and window film featuring sleek, geometric patterns offer visual interest while providing a visible denotation between the office and amenity spaces.

Arranta Bio provides novel solutions to clients for advanced therapy process development and manufacturing.  Their expertise and ability to provide end-to-end solutions helps guide therapeutic products through the clinical journey to the commercial.

In their new Watertown facility, Arranta Bio needed a state-of-the-art facility flexibly engineered as a multi-product facility to accommodate a range of manufacturing processes across single-use technology platforms.

TRIA provided design services for the multi-phase renovation and fit-out of a former warehouse space into this cGMP development and manufacturing facility. Designed for full process stages along with lyophilization and capsule filling, all new process equipment and building utility equipment were installed along with new clean utility generation. The facility is configured to allow for expansion to larger scale production as demand increases.

The rear portion building features a 9,000 SF research and development lab suite and a 6,000 SF quality control lab suite on the first floor, with conference rooms, huddle rooms and a large forum/kitchen. The front portion of the building serves as the lobby/reception area and it includes lounge seating, kitchenette, conference rooms, offices, and huddle rooms for use by visitors to the facility. Reflecting Arranta Bio’s brand, the look is modern with navy and teal accent colors used throughout the space, helping to create a holistic, cohesive design between lab and office. In addition, windows were added on the second floor to bring natural light into the offices and storefront windows were added to the front office.

Glympse Bio, a biotechnology company developing revolutionary technology to diagnose and monitor disease, needed a new headquarters.  After completing test fits, TRIA provided architectural and engineering services for one floor consisting of 60% laboratory and 40% office and amenity spaces.

During visioning, it was determined that Glympse Bio employees were looking for collaborative spaces. An efficient, economical design was achieved by creating multi-functional spaces, such as a flexible cafe that can double as a meeting space for large or small groups. Additional features include open benching, writing surfaces, and glass partitions. The outcome is a modern and inspiring workspace for Glympse Bio employees to call home.