Elevating the human experience

Founded on a promise to care for every child by leading groundbreaking research and developing life-changing therapies, Seattle Children's Research Institute set an equally ambitious goal for Building Cure, a state-of-the-art research facility that seeks to elevate human health on a global scale.

The design for this LEED Gold, 540,000-square-foot building houses ten floors of biomedical laboratory and research space that brings together scientists seeking to develop cures and treatments for childhood cancers, sickle cell anemia, and type one diabetes.

A key project goal was to create transparency between the laboratory and office environments to promote connectivity and collaboration across all levels while respecting the need for a healthy, productive workplace environment with acoustic control in all spaces. As a result, all workstations are positioned within twenty feet of a daylight source with private offices organized into intimate neighborhoods that minimize acoustic and visual disruptions.

Thoughtfully placed building core elements maximize views of the surrounding urban landscape while sculpted ceilings and interior glazing increase transparency and further promote connectivity among different teams and working groups. Further fostering a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration, conference rooms and group activity areas are distributed throughout the building, linked by purposely oversized exit stairs positioned along the window wall to encourage circulation between floors.

The design team carefully selected materials, colors, and custom graphics to maximize sensory engagement based on different workspaces; calm and neutral design elements are utilized for office areas while active and energetic components are used in collaboration areas to help promote interaction and inspire creativity.

Holding a prominent corner in Seattle's downtown street grid, Building Cure maintains a transformative community presence while helping the institution meet its key goals of achieving breakthrough science while also attracting and retaining top scientists with an innovative and awe-inspiring workplace campus.

Flad and Aedas co-led the Building Cure project. Flad served as architect of record for all scientific workplace and research space, including the Cure Factory, and Aedas served as architect of record for the building and interior public space.