University of Washington (UW) – Bioengineering & Genome Science Building

University of Washington (UW) - Bioengineering & Genome Science Building

“From the west, it looks like it could be the latest building in the University of Washington’s central campus: a warm reddish-orange exterior, subdued classical design, elegant lines.

Approach that same building from the east and it looks more like its immediate neighbors: shimmering glass, burnished metal, a chillier modern mood.

Such is the dual nature of the William H. Foege Building, named after the UW School of Medicine graduate and epidemiologist who helped eradicate smallpox.

At first, the Foege Building seemed to have divided goals. The building needed to bridge the gap between the red-brick buildings of upper campus and the steel-and-glass structures along Portage Bay. It needed to accommodate the rapidly growing Department of Genome Sciences, but also provide a unified home for the Department of Bioengineering, which was scattered across nine different locations around the campus. And it had to be a facility for both the fundamental, such as basic research on the human genome, and the practical, such as development of biomedical technology.”

An excerpt from an article describing the overall architecture of the building here 

 

The Bioengineering & Genome Science building (The Foege Building) at the University of Washington is large at  265,000 sq. ft. and 5-stories high.

Key to the “shimmering glass” described above was the sunshades that cover the east elevation of the building. The initial design of the sunshade support was a bulky aluminum extrusion affixed to the aluminum uprights. Stella became involved with the design and worked with the architect to design a custom solution. Our final design was an organically shaped and easy-to-install stainless steel fastener that not only looked good but also saved on installation costs. The large quantity of custom parts on this wall made the actual sunshade support cost effective as well.