New facility for Public Health Ontario, Infrastructure Ontario
GTA Construction Report staff writer
Merrick & Company, Diamond Schmitt Architects, and HH Angus are planning and designing Public Health Ontario’s (PHO) new Toronto public health laboratory in Toronto’s MaRS Centre, Merrick & Company has announced in a news release.
The project will include laboratories and associated support systems, as well as related office, administrative and support space.
“The new facility will improve on PHO’s existing lab space and will include space for modern testing platforms, molecular diagnostic testing and research. The design will meet the client’s need for flexibility of its laboratory functions that will be able to adapt to new testing platforms, workload surges, changing laboratory functions and research activities, the news release said. “The client expects significant growth in the research capacity of the laboratory.”
The laboratories will be designed, constructed, commissioned and certified in accordance with Health Canada laboratory biosafety guidelines.
In addition to accessibility principles and requirements, PHO has targeted design and construction efforts to earn a minimum of a LEED Silver rating, which will achieve the following:
• Reduced use of natural resources
• Optimized energy and water consumption
• Generation of fewer greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)
• Lower operating costs and healthier indoor environments
The project will be a leasehold improvement of approximately 160,000 rentable square feet constructed on the top four floors in the MaRS Phase II Tower, part of the MaRS Discovery Centre in Toronto. Occupancy is planned for January 2014.
