Light Chain Bioscience: labs in the city

At first, it was a new building, but without a defined use. Today, the premises are housing scientific laboratories, with state-of-the-art technical facilities. At Light Chain Bioscience, BG Group’s engineers have completed a complex project, worthy of their know-how.

Designing the city of the future also means dealing with pre-existing buildings and adapting them to the needs of users, while making them sustainable. The new Light Chain Bioscience laboratories in Plan-les-Ouates (Geneva) are the perfect example of this kind of achievement, with added complexity given by the very nature of the activities of the Client.

Light Chain Bioscience laboratories – trade name of the company Novimmune SA – specialise in the research and development of therapeutic antibodies for cancer treatment. On the 3rd floor of a new building, they wanted 2,650 m2 of floor space to be fitted out into offices, meeting rooms and common areas. And of course, the majority being laboratories.

The complexity of the project came from the former use of the floor space: as these surfaces were not specifically planned for scientific activities of this type, they did not have any special equipment – neither subfloors nor screeds. In such a case, “the technical skills required are those of a value-added project, where our advice is essential,” states Nicolas Pion, project manager at BG.

New in BIM, the ‘as built’ model

All the technical installations and their ducts (heating, cooling, ventilation, electricity, sanitary facilities, and fire protection expertise) came under a full HVAC engineering mandate. Our engineers capped it off with the development of an “as built” HVAC digital 3D model for the Light Chain Bioscience. This is an additional – and decisive – step in the function of the BIM (Building Information Modelling) tool, usually used in the design phase. The “as built” implies that the model corresponds exactly to the final realisation, which BG guarantees. And it will live on with the possibility for assistance in piloting and maintenance (BOS, for Building Operating System).

The use of the BIM tool allows for a good coordination between the stakeholders intervening on the different models, which also promotes a smooth running of the site. Nicolas Pion does not fail to point out the quality of the collaboration, “essential and very effective”, with Light Chain Bioscience, as well as with the architectural office Burckhardt+Partner, project creator, general planner of this multidiscipli-nary success, and represented by the project director Antoine Müller Moriya.

PICTURES: Burckhardt+Partner et BG Ingénieurs Conseils
(Article taken from BG Magazine 2021, updated version on the site)