Research Complex 2 Opens in Aurora

The new 11-story RC2 tower was designed to accommodate researchers from the School of Medicine and the School of Pharmacy and is the second of two companion research buildings on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

Photo by Jason A. Knowles of Fentress Architects

The new Research Complex 2 opened June 9 on the University of Colorado Denver Health Science Center’s Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

At $201.5 million and 500,000 sq ft, the facility is the latest addition to the new research park, and its opening marks the completion of UCDHSC’s move from its former location at Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard to the Anschutz Medical Campus.

RC2 is the second of the campus’ two research buildings. Research Complex 1 was completed by Greeley’s Hensel Phelps Construction Co. in June 2004 and consists of a 12-story cancer research tower and a nine-story biomedical research tower adjoined by pedestrian bridges. RC2 forms the western edge of the new research park and echoes the architectural vernacular of RCI to the east; Denver’s Fentress Architects, in association with KlingStubbins of Philadelphia, designed both buildings. Mortenson Construction of Denver was the contractor for RC2.

“There is a greater emphasis on clinical needs in RC1, whereas there’s more emphasis on office space and flexible lab space in RC2,” said Curt Fentress of Fentress Architects, the architect-of-record. “That’s the key difference between the two facilities.”

RC2 features a blue glass and aluminum curtain wall facing east toward the courtyard and brick on the laboratory side. The design on the office side is open, accessible and inviting, meant to be symbolic of bringing new discoveries into the light and making them available to the world. The laboratory side consists of rose brick with a simple structural frame expression in the window openings. The RC2 design is more inward looking, like the introspective nature of the research conducted within, Fentress said.

The new 11-story building supports various clinical and basic science research. Laboratory configurations range from wet bench to more instrument-oriented facilities. A full complement of research support spaces and core labs are designed to foster interaction and communication.

Consistent with RC1 laboratory spaces are designed with open floor plans that offer maximum flexibility, according to Jeff Olson, project manager and principal with Fentress Architects.

“We tried to organize the environment in a way that is user friendly and encourages interaction among the researchers working in both RC1 and RC2,” he added.

RC2 features a coffee shop on the ground floor, two-story corner break rooms joining adjacent lab floors and numerous daylit conference rooms, designed to facilitate communication and collaboration among researchers. A 4,000-sq-ft divisible conference room, located on the second floor, connects directly via an enclosed walkway to the two auditoriums and prefunction space in RC1, forming a genuine conference center for the research complex.

An outdoor amphitheater and courtyard formed by RC1 and RC2 offers an ideal space for casual gatherings and formal campus events.