By Shera Dalin
The creative construction,
flexible workspaces and environmentally-friendly features of
the CORTEX and related buildings will be discussed at the Association
of University Research Parks annual conference in St. Louis
Oct. 24th through 26th.
Architect Punit K. Jain, associate vice president of Cannon
Design in St. Louis, is set to explain at the conference how
CORTEX is encouraging the transfer of university-based research
to the commercial sector. Some 250 research park personnel,
consultants, economic developers, venture capitalists and others
are expected to attend the meeting at the Chase Park Plaza.
They will also have the opportunity to tour CORTEX, the NIDUS
Center, Danforth Plant Sciences Center, and the Center for Emerging
Technologies, Missouri Research Park and the High Tech Corridor
in St. Charles.
“This is a national conference and if attendees can learn from
what we have accomplished in St. Louis, they can take that to
other parts of the country. People should understand that if
you really embark on it, there is definitely success out there,”
Jain says.
Research parks in the U.S. and Canada employ more than 350,000
people and contribute more than $31 billion annually to the
nations’ economies, according to the Association of University
Research Parks.
“The hot thing today in incubation, or translational research,
is really the emerging news for the competitiveness of the region
and the country,” explains Mike Bowman, incoming president of
AURP and president and CEO of the Delaware Research Park.
“The financing to connect academic, government and industry
leaders is not an easy thing to execute. A research park is
a way to achieve success. Sometimes a for-profit commercial
developer can pull it off, but if you don’t have an academic
interest, it is difficult. (Research parks are) how people are
learning to share their competencies and assets.”
Jain points to the multi-layered success of CORTEX, the Center
of Research, Technology and Entrepreneurial Exchange. Not only
has the once-depressed neighborhood around CORTEX rebounded,
but also the complex is encouraging university researchers to
collaborate with one another and help translate their findings
into commercial enterprises.
“The reason university research parks are more successful, is
because they draw from a large pool of ready talent whose research
is funded by endowments and grants,” Jain says. “Companies such
as Pfizer and Monsanto on the other hand spend millions on developing
a drug. But if they collaborate with universities and use their
research, the drug discovery process will be quick and less
expensive. Often the university initiated start-up companies
get bought by large companies like Monsanto.”
Growing out of St. Louis’ BioBelt Strategy developed with Battelle,
the CORTEX complex was formed by a partner- ship of Washington
University, Saint Louis University, Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation,
the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the Missouri Botanical
Garden, the Regional Chamber & Growth Association, Civic Progress
and the City. Its aim, in part, is to foster more collaboration
among university researchers and technology entrepreneurs, and
revitalize a depressed neighborhood in Midtown St. Louis.
Jain notes that part of the success of the research corridor
is the commitment of five of the component members: Saint Louis
University’s Doisy Research Center, Solae Co. headquarters being
built directly adjacent to the CORTEX 1 building, Consortium
for Translational Research in Advanced Imaging and Nanotechnology,
Center for Emerging Technologies and the Biomedical Research
Building One at Washington University School of Medicine.
These buildings are designed using environmentally-friendly
materials such as no voc paint and carpet made from recycled
products. The spaces are also designed to operate with maximum
energy efficiency, Jain says.
The aim of these spaces is to improve collaboration among researchers,
Jain explains. The 280,000-square-foot Biomedical Research Building
One, for instance, will consolidate the research happening in
many different buildings once it opens in 2009.
“It will have open collaborative labs, conference rooms, open
stairs and lots of flexibility through the use of modular furniture.
The idea is to bring them under one roof to help accelerate
their research,” Jain says. “It is exciting the amount of sharing
they are talking about and we are seeing spaces where they can
share.”
Flexible components like moveable furniture allow tenants to
rearrange the space as needs evolve.
“Research needs change over time,” Jain says. “You may have
a large lab space today, but not need it tomorrow. If you put
in fixed (lab) benches, future modifications will be difficult
and expensive.”
Creating buildings with a “green” atmosphere such as open floor
plans and extensive use of natural light has an added benefit,
Jain says.
“A lot of students who come to the universities tend to leave.
But if we can provide these centers that are attractive and
inviting, those people will stay,” he says. “Green buildings
also reduce fatigue, absenteeism and help people want to come
to work.”
As the area’s universities improve collaboration through such
workspaces, the economic impact on the St. Louis region could
greatly increase the number of talented employees that stay
in the area as well as the amount of research that translates
to commercial enterprises, Jain hopes.
“The ingredients for success are entrepreneurship, presence
of university research and buildings that are environmentally
responsible, economical and attractive,” he says.
