Q&A
Discussion on special permit request and design alternatives
0:24:27
ยท
79 sec
Council Member Rivera inquires about the necessity of the special permit requested for the project and whether alternative designs were considered. Melissa Sarko from Ennead Architects explains the rationale behind the special permit request.
- Life science buildings have specific planning dimensions and requirements
- Typical zoning would result in upper floors becoming too small for laboratory uses
- The special permit allows for appropriate dimensions and mechanical plant placement
- Multiple options were studied before deciding on the current design
Carlina Rivera
0:24:27
Let's start with, can you explain the necessity of the special permit you're requesting and did you consider other design alternatives to achieve the space requirements you need?
Ben Baccash
0:24:37
Sure.
0:24:37
Melissa, you wanna take that?
Melissa Sarko
0:24:38
Sure.
0:24:38
I can take that one.
0:24:41
So life science buildings do have certain kind of minimum planning dimensions and requirements for, the space to be efficiently and effectively deployed from a life science standpoint, from a planning standpoint.
0:24:54
And so one of the challenges of a building that has kind of a typical sky exposure plane, which the C64, zoning would have, is that the building gets narrower as you get higher up in the in the building.
0:25:07
And therefore, as we looked at it, and we did study multiple options, the upper floor plates just become so small that you don't get the appropriate minimum dimensions between the core of the building and the perimeter to support laboratory uses.
0:25:22
And then coupled with that, you know, there's a significant mechanical plant that's typically at the top of the building that kind of drives all the airflow through the building.
0:25:31
And then as the building gets narrower at the top of the building, the footprint that you have available for that mechanical, system is just insufficient.
0:25:39
So it was kind of the combination of those two things that really drove us to request the, the heightened setback waivers that we've applied for.