Payette and Hopkins Architects designed Frick Chemistry lab at Princeton University receives high honors in lab of the year awards

According to Payette the Frick Chemistry Lab at Princeton University has been recognized with high honors in the 2012 Lab of the Year competition organized by R&D Magazine. The award-winning facility was designed by Payette, architect, in collaboration with Hopkins Architects, design architect. The Laboratory of the Year competition recognizes innovative designs, materials, and construction for laboratory facilities, and high honor winners represent exemplary overall quality in both architecture and laboratory design. R&D Magazine provides in-depth analysis of established and newly minted technologies and products across a wide spectrum of research and development. Princeton's new Frick Chemistry Laboratory moves the entire Department of Chemistry at Princeton from the nation's oldest chemistry laboratory to a new state-of-the-science facility. Payette collaborated with Hopkins to design a structure that is equipped with both cutting-edge and sustainable amenities and that fully integrates Princeton's teaching and research programs. The building is organized around a central light-filled atrium, with research labs on the east side connected by pedestrian bridges, office, and conference and break-out spaces on the west. In addition to this most recent honor, the Frick Chemistry Lab design team has been recognized with the following awards: * 2011Boston Society of Architects, Honor Award for Design Excellence * 2011AIA New Jersey, Merit Award * 2011AIA Tri-State Design Awards, Honor Award Team members included Turner Construction Company, construction manager; Arup, structural, mechanical, electrical, life safety, and lighting engineers; Van Note Harvey and Nitsch Engineering, civil engineers; Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, landscape architect; and Acentech Inc., audiovisual systems consultant. In addition to its work on the design team, Payette also helped produce a feasibility study for this project several years ago that was revisited during the design process of this new building. Payette is a leading architectural design firm whose practice focuses on technologically and programmatically complex buildings for scientific research, higher education, healthcare, and corporate research clients. For more than three quarters of a century, Payette has practiced innovation in these highly technical buildings while developing a culture based on deep readings of program as one of the essential subtexts of architecture. This thorough understanding of how hospitals and laboratories work has helped clients such as Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Penn State Hershey and Children's Hospital Boston transcend function to transform places and improve people's lives. Hopkins Architects are an award-winning London based firm responsible for the iconic Velodrome for the London 2012 Games; besides Frick, they have completed projects at Yale and Rice Universities in the US as well as numerous other projects throughout the world.