Construction To Begin on Argonne's Advanced Protein Characterization Facility

ARGONNE, Ill. – Argonne National Laboratory's Office of Project Management, in conjunction with Jacobs Engineering, awarded Clark Construction Group a $22.8 million contract to construct the Advanced Protein Characterization Facility (APCF). Built as part of a partnership between Argonne and the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the APCF will contain the most advanced protein science technology in the nation. This is the second contract Argonne has awarded Clark in recent years, the first being the 160,000 square-foot Energy Sciences Building now under construction.

In August, Clark will begin construction of the 60,000 square-foot facility with flexible laboratory and office spaces, as well as environmental rooms, support areas, and a conference center. The Argonne APCF will feature a state-of-the-art, highly-automated laboratory that includes a scientific collaboration space for the production and characterization of proteins and protein crystals.

The Argonne APCF project is designed to achieve LEED® Gold certification. Sustainable elements include a curtain wall system with high-performance electro chromatic glass which modulates the amount of tint in the windows to maximize natural light infiltration and to minimize solar heat gain.

The facility is expected to be complete in October 2013.

The Chicago office of SmithGroup is the designer and architect of record. Chicago-based project partners include Thornton Tomasetti, structural engineer; Affiliated Engineers Inc., MEP engineer; and TERRA Engineering, civil engineer.