State of Iowa - Iowa Laboratory Facility

Building a Lab for the Future:  This is a high-tech, cutting-edge laboratory facility housing four separate and distinct agencies: Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory, Iowa Criminalistics Laboratory, and the State Medical Examiner. The facility was created to enhance communications and efficiencies between the agencies that work closely together to protect and improve the quality of life of its citizens.

Outside influences on the design and construction of this facility were numerous including co-locating 4 agencies into one facility, an original program of 225,000 SF that was reduced to 175,000 SF by State legislation, a design phase that was underway and had to be reconsidered due to world changes in 2001, and urgency in starting and completing construction.

CPMI was the Construction Manager and was the coordinator between the Design Team, User Agencies, DAS General Services, Purchasing, state accounting, contractors, utilities, building officials, and the Des Moines Area Community College. CPMI was responsible for the cost estimating, bidding, bid strategy, contractor coordination, scheduling, changes in the Work, financial reporting, and public updates. We were also involved in sustainable design issues, data/telecommunications, and public art.

Serving the Public:  The original program was for a 225,000 GSF facility at a cost of $65M. CPMI led the team in evaluating the program and balancing needs with the reduced appropriation of $51.8M.  After 9/11, security aspects such as site access, cameras, key card system, exterior glazing, sample delivery & handling protocols were all re-evaluated and much was re-designed, but the project budget was maintained.

The project was constructed in four phases to allow the design team to complete design documents and take advantage of weather and bid timing.

This project was indeed a Team effort, with members playing a pivotal role in meeting the client's needs, schedule and budget. The facility consists of offices, public safety training center, a complete medical examiner suite, and agriculture and health department laboratories. Most lab facilities are considered BSL-2 and include prep labs, extraction labs, instrument labs, chemical and lab storage. The facility also contains clean rooms and a BSL-3 lab.