Indiana University wins Lab of the Year competition

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Indiana University Bloomington’s newest science building, Simon Hall, has won high honors in R&D Magazine’s 2008 “Lab of the Year,” an architecture competition for research facilities.

Flad & Associates, which is based in Madison, Wisc., designed Simon Hall, and they submitted their contest entry in January. Flad architects worked closely with IU architects to design a 141,000-square-foot structure that encourages interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers in fields as disparate as biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics.

“On behalf of the entire Indiana University community, I would like to congratulate Flad & Associates, the University Architect’s Office and the hundreds of faculty and administrators who contributed to the creation of this architecturally and technologically superior research facility,” said IU President Michael A. McRobbie. “It is because of their dedication, vision and ingenuity that IU’s scientists are reaping the benefits of increased multidisciplinary collaboration and advancing our understanding of the fundamental nature of life.”

The Lab of the Year judging panel was composed of architects, engineers, lab planners, equipment suppliers and the editors of R&D Magazine and Laboratory Design Newsletter. Although no first place prize was awarded, Simon Hall earned the highest rating among this year’s submissions.

A full write-up of the winners will appear in the June 2008 issue of R&D Magazine and Laboratory Design Newsletter. Awards will be presented to the owners and designers of this year’s winning labs at the Laboratory Design Conference at the J.W. Marriott Houston Hotel (Texas) on April 1, 2008.