VGXI Headquarters + Biomanufacturing Facility

Summarize the project's program, features, and achievements: The new VGXI Headquarters and Biomanufacturing Facility in Conroe, Texas is a testament to the collaborative efforts of Hanbury, the client, and key stakeholders. Situated on a 20-acre plot in an emerging technology and research park, this cutting-edge facility was designed with careful consideration for the client's needs, employee well-being, schedule, and budget constraints. Hanbury's designers expertly translated VGXI's vision into an architectural statement that embodies the client's values and aspirations, reflecting a commitment to transformational science and employee well-being through strategic facility planning and life science expertise. A modular concept was incorporated into the building's design, allowing for future growth and expansion while maintaining the highest standards of safety, containment, and cGMP requirements needed for pharmaceutical manufacturing. The building's unique architecture utilized site cast concrete panels designed as modular units which reflects the constraints of tilt-up construction and the prescriptive nature of lab facilities. The design team skillfully turned these constraints into design opportunities, resulting in a building that breaks down the scale of the form with the use of light and shadow and provides visual interest through multiple panel types. The innovative use of chamfers, textures and projecting elements allows the façade to transform dynamically throughout the day, creating a captivating interplay of light and shadow that enhances the building's aesthetic appeal. With an equally impressive interior, the material palette consists primarily of neutral tones, including polished concrete floors, warm wood tones, and the client's primary brand color. This serves as a means of wayfinding, guiding occupants through the space and marking the important communal gathering spaces throughout. Shared spaces and circulation zones continue the theme of engaging environments and adapt to different work methodologies. The double-height entry plaza, monumental stair, wood slat walls, and ceilings visually connect the interior design to the exterior canopy soffits and establish a material language that is carried throughout the office and circulation areas. The VGXI headquarters showcases the impact of collaboration, innovation, and careful attention to detail. The close coordination between the design team, client, and contractors allowed for key details to be thoughtfully articulated, resulting in a building that is both functional and visually stunning. It represents VGXI's commitment to transforming scientific processes and generating a positive global impact through their products, cementing their place as a leader in the Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) industry.

What obstacles were overcome related to the schedule, budget, program, specification, site, etc. on this project? The effort to push the design of the tilt-up concrete was truly a collaborative one between the client, the architect and the manufacturer. This process of collaboration with the material of building, created a better building and a better design since the entire team was interested in pushing the boundaries of the material. To break up the façade of the building with light and shadow, we did a lot of digital mockups to play around with texture, placement of ridges and angle of the concrete to explore this, but the design team, working the manufacturer, was eager to get the final option mocked up physically. The physical mockup of the chamfer, for example, which is only a 2" change in depth but has a huge visual impact on the way you see the concrete. One obstacle run into during construction was the long lead times for form liners. In order to make the schedule, all the form liners were created with chamfer. We were also able to mockup the parapet cap, which was about casting a shadow at the top of the building to break down the scale. Both the chamfer and the parapet cap were about using light / shadow to allow the façade of the building to be dynamic and actually change throughout the day.

Please communicate any engineering complexities or unique features of the panel design for this project. ? The success of the design was how the design team worked within the standard constraints of tilt-up to create something unique. We intentionally tried to avoid engineering complexities for cost and constructability, but by understanding the construction method we were able to do unique things like the chamfers at the openings and add intrigue with various textures.