Supporting Public Health

The new 160,000-square-foot, multi-story research building will increase the CDC's research capacity to sustain its diagnostic mission and support its public health mission by helping communities prepare for, detect, and respond to, public health consequences of all hazards. The High Containment Continuity Laboratory (HCCL) building will be a Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) facility, a designation reserved for the highest level of biological safety, and it will accommodate approximately 80 laboratory researchers.

The CDC has selected Flad Architects, Page Southerland Page, and WSP to plan, program, and design the HCCL. The new facility is part of CDC's 2025 master plan that was finalized well before COVID-19. Post completion, the HCCL will be one of three facilities in the world designed and certified to facilitate diagnostic research on specific, select viruses.

As a BSL-4 laboratory, the new facility will feature high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtered supply and exhaust air, air pressure resistant doors, pressure cascade zoning, effluent collection and treatment, and pressure decay tested coatings and penetrations, as well as high purity breathing air and chemical decontamination showers for research staff. In addition, there will be connections to the existing Roybal campus utility systems with below-grade utility tunnels and a two-level bridge connection.