National Institutes of Health Surgery - Radiology - and Lab Medicine Building | Bethesda - Maryland | 2024

Architects: Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK)
Lead Architect: Roger Schwabacher
General Contractor: Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Client: National Institutes of Health
Images: Courtesy of the Architects

At the headquarters of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), doctors and researchers conduct and support research on the causes, diagnosis, prevention, and cure of human diseases. The NIH’s new Surgery, Radiology and Lab Medicine (SRLM) Building facilitates that mission by providing scientists, physicians, and patients with spaces that inspire, heal, and propel innovation. The SRLM adds more than 545,000 square feet of new surgical suites, labs, and offices. The project includes an 82,000-square-foot renovation of the main hospital's clinical research wing. A new 780-vehicle parking garage has a utility vault to provide operational and emergency electrical infrastructure.

The NIH challenged HOK to design the SLRM to blend in with the rest of the Institute’s red brick campus and connect directly with the existing hospital for synergy of functions. It could not overshadow the main hospital building. In addition to providing floors for advanced surgeries and research, the building needed to provide workspaces and conference areas where NIH doctors and scientists could collaborate across departments and disciplines. The design solution creates a building organized as three main wings extending off a main bar. The wings provide the SLRM with an abundance of corners to house offices and collaboration spaces.

The multi-wing design also breaks down the massing of the eight-story building and allows light wells between the wings to draw natural light deep into the floor plate. At ground level, the SRLM’s wings allow for a series of gardens and bioretention ponds that enhance the pedestrian experience. Resilient Design Research has shown that biophilic design, connecting people to nature, improves health and well-being. The SRLM connects building occupants to the outdoors in multiple ways. Large windows provide occupants with restorative natural light and expansive views of nature. Corner gardens offer visitors and patients places of comfort and reflection.

The gardens double as bioretention gardens, harvesting stormwater from the building’s rooftop. A stone wall running the length of the gardens offers people a place to sit and reflect. The walls double as a security barrier. Glass walls along the ground floor provide NIH staff with views of the gardens and allow the public to see the work occurring inside. The SRLM will house the world’s most advanced clinical research technology. HOK’s integrated team of architects, lab and medical planners, interior designers, and engineers developed a design strategy to ensure the building’s infrastructure can support today’s equipment and adapt to future advancements in clinical research technology.

Lightwells draw natural light into upper-level labs and workplaces. Mechanical systems housed above each clinical research floor support advanced technology. Rooftop clerestories let daylight descend three floors down, providing interior offices and write-up spaces with restorative natural light. Glass walls allow interior offices to take advantage of the daylight from the clerestories. The NIH was concerned about leaking from mechanical shafts harming costly and sensitive research technology. The solution was to place two exterior mechanical towers on the south and east sides of the building. The team designed a custom terracotta enclosure for the mechanical towers. The two-foot-wide square panels create a lively parabolic pattern.

More importantly, the tiles can be easily removed, allowing the NIH to swap out mechanical systems with minimal interruption to building operations. The SRLM places innovation and sustainability at the forefront. The abundant use of natural light and highly efficient mechanical systems have helped position the building to earn LEED Gold certification. Glowing glass cubes along the corners of the building hint at the innovative research and treatment occurring inside.