NEW MEXICO SCIENTIFIC LABORATORIES
1101 CAMINO DE SALUD NE
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO 87106
Located adjacent to the UNM Health Sciences campus, the New Mexico Scientific Laboratories is a 196,399 sf multi-agency building housing the New Mexico Department of Health Scientific Laboratory Division (SLD), the New Mexico Department of Agriculture Veterinary Diagnostic Services (VDS) and the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI). The building
is owned by the State of New Mexico General Services Department Property Control Division(PCD).
The building is located on a sloping site adjacent to the northbound I-25 frontage road. The design team decided to take advantage of the slope and construct a lower level that is below grade on one side of the site while exposed on the other side. The section of the building below grade houses mechanical, electrical and storage functions while the exposed side on the west contains a sally port and lab space for VDS in addition to the main loading dock for the building. The building is layered so that, for the most part, each agency or bureau is located on a different level. The building is five stories plus a partial penthouse. SLD has lab and office space on three floors divided by bureau (Chemistry, Toxicology and Biology). SLD also has a receiving area on the lower level adjacent to the loading dock.
The project was designed to meet LEED Silver certification requirements while incorporating large blocks of space for bio-safety laboratories (BSL). There are three BSL-3 laboratory spaces in the building, one for each agency. (BSL-3 lab spaces have very high containment protocols.) The largest will be occupied by OMI and is one of the first and largest BSL-3 autopsy suites in the world. Other labs throughout the building will be BSL-2.
Acknowledge photos by "Patrick Coulie Photography 2010"