Office and Laboratory Global Nutritional Innovation Center
EPC METHOD TAKES FOOD RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY TO COMPLETION
The heart and soul of a company is its brand. One way DSM, a food research and development lab, connects employees and customers to its core is through the design of its buildings. When DSM launched plans in 2009 to expand its North American research and development facilities in Parsippany, New Jersey, the global health, nutrition, and materials firm turned to Gannett Fleming to orchestrate the project.
The result was an innovation center used to strengthen both local and international expertise. The facility consists of a dairy and beverage laboratory with a wet pilot plant. In addition, we created individual laboratories for bakery, savory, dietary supplements, personal care, sensory testing, and stability testing.
What We Did
Gannett Fleming provided engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for DSM’s Nutritional and Food Application Innovation Center, a 19,500-square-foot laboratory and office. The primary goal of this project was to create functional, state-of-the-art research and development laboratories with professional interior elements suitable for DSM’s nutritionists to showcase new applications to their clients. Through the efficient deployment of the EPC delivery method, DSM was able to have a beautiful new facility in only 18 months.
Gannett Fleming incorporated sustainable elements throughout the innovation center to reflect DSM’s leadership in environmental stewardship. These features included the integration of materials with recycled content and the use of certified green products, daylight planning concepts, high-efficiency lighting, and occupancy sensors. In addition, the design and construction included modular chillers, dedicated variable air volume, and 100 percent outdoor air primary air units serving a recirculating fan coil system in each laboratory. This allowed for energy conservation based on demand ventilation control. Customized low-flow baffled canopy hoods and custom walk-in working stability chambers featuring environmentally friendly refrigerants and water atomizing humidifiers provided additional energy savings.
Key Features
- Consolidated beverage, bakery, dairy, savory, dietary supplement, and personal care market sectors under one roof, leading to improved functionality and efficiency.
- Designed a destination for quality improvement, new ingredient testing, and concept development, which enhanced DSM’s brand and became a focal point for their operations.
Outcomes
- Center serves a dual purpose as a research and development lab and as an interface to customers.
- New facility provides a concrete example of the firm’s new visual identity.
- Facility is a manifestation of the firm’s commitment to sustainability.
- Demand ventilation control, through dedicated variable air volume and 100 percent outdoor air primary air units, allows for energy conservation.
- Six custom walk-in stability chambers with low-flow baffled canopy hoods, featuring environmentally friendly refrigerants and water atomizing humidifiers, increased the efficiency of the operations and brought the overall operation up to current standards.
- Interior finish items have sustainability-related certifications, such as SCS certification, allowing DSM to showcase the space as one of their most sustainable spaces.
- Lighting design takes advantage of available daylight, contributing to energy efficiency, sustainability, and green standards.
CLIENT
DSM Nutritional Products, Inc.
LOCATION
Parsippany, N.J.
ROLE
Architecture, Construction, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Structural, Construction Management, Program Management, Permitting
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