Anne and Jerome Fisher Translational Research Center Philadelphia, Pa.

PROJECT COST: $370 Million

The new, $370-million Anne and Jerome Fisher Translational Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia will provide approximately 500,000 sq ft of biomedical laboratory space, clinical patient research facilities and support space for translational medicine, which focuses on speeding laboratory discoveries into medical therapies.

L.F. Driscoll Co. of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., holds a $270-million contract and broke ground on the eight-story structure in May 2008. The center will provide space for various research disciplines and will connect with the university’s Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and the Roberts Proton Therapy Center, in hopes of enhancing communication between researchers and clinicians. The concrete research structure sits atop the proton therapy enter.

Rafael Viñoly Architects of New York designed the center to bring together multiple biomedical research disciplines and foster collaboration. Offices are arranged in pods to promote faculty interaction with researchers. The building also includes a 225-seat auditorium, conference areas on each floor and eateries, all in adjacent to the clinical spaces.

There are 144 wet benches per floor, arranged in an open-lab layout for optimal flexibility. The center, when complete in 2010, will house 100 principal investigators and 900 staff.

Philanthropists Jerome, founder and chairman emeritus of the Nine West Group, and Anne Fisher donated $50 million toward the center, created to allow Penn to investigate and then offer patients the latest advanced cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, neurological and other treatments.

The Fisher Translational Research Center will be Penn’s first medical research building physically integrated with patient care facilities.

Key Players

Owner: University of Pennsylvania
Contractor: L.F. Driscoll Co., Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
Architect: Rafael Viñoly Architects, New York