Memorial Sloan-Kettering Celebrates a Milestone

March 27, 2001

The Board of Managers approves construction of the Center's first new research facility in more than a decade.

December 19, 2001

On this day, the New York City Council votes unanimously to rezone the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center campus, ending a year-long public review process and setting the stage for construction. In May 2002 work begins on the first phase of the two-building complex on East 68th Street.

June 24, 2004

The last beam of the steel frame is hoisted to the 23rd floor and installed, officially "topping out" the structure.

May 10, 2006

A press briefing is convened to announce that Mortimer B. Zuckerman -- publisher, real estate developer, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Board member -- has committed $100 million toward Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's new research facility through his MBZ Charitable Trust. In recognition of Mr. Zuckerman's philanthropy, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Boards of Overseers and Managers vote to name the facility The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Research Center.

	A Laboratory in the Zuckerman Research Center

September 21, 2006

A spirited conclusion to three days of symposia organized around the official opening of the Zuckerman Research Center, the arrival of the first class of students at the Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the inauguration of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program (HOPP) is an afternoon-long celebration held in the Zuckerman Research Center. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center staff and friends of the institution are invited to tour the new building, dedicated to answering the critical 21st-century questions about cancer biology and to speeding the translation of basic discoveries into effective therapies for patients.

The Zuckerman Research Center sits on an "L"-shaped 45,500-square-foot parcel of land between 68th and 69th Streets, and between First and York Avenues, across the street from Memorial Hospital. On the southeast portion of the lot is the 40-year-old Kettering Laboratory building, which is currently being demolished to make way for a seven-story structure that will eventually be part of the Zuckerman Research Center. This building will contain a conference center with a 350-seat auditorium, a number of "dry" laboratories, and a permanent home for the Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School. The construction is expected to be complete in 2009.

"The Zuckerman Research Center provides investigators with an inspiring, interactive, efficient, and fully vital environment in which they can work together and capitalize on new and promising opportunities in cancer research," explained Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center President Harold Varmus. "Its opening caps a period of extraordinary growth and development across our entire panoply of research and clinical programs."

Successfully overcoming design challenges imposed by the Zuckerman Research Center's limited "footprint," the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, in collaboration with the design firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, created a unique "linear" laboratory facility. The concept utilizes space as efficiently as possible by offering researchers easy access to essential equipment while keeping noisy and heat-producing instrumentation in equipment rooms outside the laboratories.

Building occupants can travel from floor to floor via a central "interaction staircase." Entirely enclosed in glass, the staircase allows the opportunity for chance encounters and exchanges among investigators. New York-based artist Alyson Shotz used silkscreen and mirroring techniques directly on the glass panels enclosing the stairs to create a permanent installation that unfolds from one floor to the next.

Faculty Member Anna Marie Kenney "In the short time since we moved to the Zuckerman Research Center, it has become home to the lab. We enjoy having friendly neighbors with whom we share reagents, equipment, and storage space; lovely views over the City; and a communal center where people from several labs can enjoy a break and a cup of coffee, exchange ideas, and get to know each other. We are excited about carrying on in the interactive spirit with which the building was designed." Anna Marie Kenney, Neuroscientist, Laboratory Head, Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute

Other Zuckerman Research Center amenities designed to foster and abet interactions among investigators include common break areas with small pantries on all floors where researchers may work, study, or engage with one another, as well as a café located on the ground floor that is equipped with wireless technology. Named the CyberLounge, it offers a coffee bar and light menu options.

The Zuckerman Research Center incorporates open, spacious floors with flexible "modular" laboratories that encourage collaboration among researchers. Each laboratory floor consists of 18 "wet" laboratory modules that are assigned to investigators based on the size of their research programs. Laboratory modules can be easily reconfigured as the needs of research programs evolve. Laboratory benches can be quickly adapted to changes in the number of researchers who use a space, and will accommodate new research requirements and specialized equipment.

"The new building creatively fulfills all the key goals set forth by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center," explained Thomas J.Kelly, Director of the Sloan-Kettering Institute. "It enables us to integrate new technologies, maximizes our flexibility for future research, and promotes multidisciplinary interactions, all of which serve our ultimate goal -- to increase the efficiency of moving scientific discoveries into clinical applications." Added Dr. Kelly,"The complex will eventually house approximately 100 research faculty and their growing teams and will provide the space needed for the recruitment of new investigators and the expansion of a number of existing programs within Sloan-Kettering Institute."

Katia Manova-Todorova "The equipment of the Molecular Cytology Core Facility (MCCF) is delicate and complex. And the relocation of our services from the old Kettering building to the Zuckerman Research Center, while not simple or easy, was handled with great skill. Now, the proximity of our tools, such as optical microscopes and histology equipment, allows new and dynamic interactions between MCCF staff and users that have led to an increase in the efficiency of our entire operation." Katia Manova-Todorova, Head, Molecular Cytology Core Facility, Sloan-Kettering Institute

The Zuckerman Research Center has been designed as a high-performance "green building," addressing environmental, economic, and social concerns by incorporating design and construction practices that are energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. The Zuckerman Research Center will be among the first research facilities in the nation to receive certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^®), a benchmarking standard developed by the US Green Building Council that evaluates the environmental performance of buildings.

"From the ingenious 'fritted' glass façade that controls the amount of light entering and emitted from the building, and by incorporating digital lighting, heat recovery, and other state-of-the-art HVAC [heating, ventilation, and air conditioning] systems, this is truly a highly efficient building," noted Edward J.Mahoney, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Vice President, Facilities Management. "Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has also undertaken extensive measures to ensure the Zuckerman Research Center will not produce any hazardous emissions. Environmental impact, the concerns of our neighbors, and laboratory safety were of the highest priority in what was an extremely collaborative design and building process. The project architects, interior designers, and engineers worked hand in hand with our researchers, Dr. Kelly, and Dr. Varmus to create this extraordinary space. In addition,Turner Construction Company assembled a terrific team to construct the facility. We feel that with the completion of this first phase of the project Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has given our investigators all the tools they need to conduct successful research."

Once ready for occupancy, moving laboratories from one location to another was no simple task, and it fell to Stephen A. Egan, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Director of Laboratory Operations, to coordinate the complex logistics of transferring entire laboratory programs to the new facility. "The staff in Laboratory Operations and the Facilities Management shops went above and beyond the call of duty to make it as seamless as possible for the researchers," explained Mr. Egan. "We also had the assistance of all our vendors in preparing sophisticated and sensitive equipment for the move, and worked with our consultants and engineers to make sure that every piece of instrumentation was in the proper location and had the power and services they needed. Researchers were able to sign off on their computers the evening before their laboratory moved, and the next morning a team of Center IT [information technology] personnel was in the new location ready to get them backup and running," Mr. Egan elaborated. He also credited Granary Associates, who provided Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with project management support, and Turner Construction Company, as "very important to the entire process."

"While my lab had the dubious honor to be the first to be moved into the new building, I can't praise the organization and execution of the move enough," said physician-scientist Marcel van den Brink, Chief of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service. "An army of movers, plumbers, electricians, and others moved us quickly and efficiently. The lab was functional within a day. The whole operation was closely supervised by EdMahoney, Steve Egan, and their colleagues, with attention to every detail." Dr. van den Brink smiles. "My only concern now is the distraction caused by the floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the New York skyline!"

Mr. Mahoney sums up perhaps most succinctly the feelings of those involved in the creation of the Zuckerman Research Center: "The hearts and souls of the entire team went into constructing this building and everyone should take enormous pride in the success of the project. It's extremely fulfilling to have been part of an extraordinary group of people who helped build what is undoubtedly one of the finest research facilities in the world."

Research Center by the Numbers The Zuckerman Research Center is 23 stories tall with 16 floors of laboratories, 18 laboratory bays per floor. The 1.03-acre site accommodates the entire research complex (including the 135,000-square-foot Phase 2 building, scheduled to open in 2009). Excavators dug through 75 feet of solid bedrock to create the foundation, which is as deep as the former World Trade Center site. At least 25 percent of materials used in construction were 20 percent post-consumer recycled content or 40 percent post-industrial recycled content. At least 50 percent of all construction wastes were recycled or reused. A high-performance "green building," the Zuckerman Research Center offers improved indoor air quality, increased natural lighting, and lower total long-term costs due to reduced energy requirements and other operating expenses. The complex will house a number of existing programs within the Sloan-Kettering Institute including Immunology, Computational Biology, Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry, and Cancer Biology and Genetics, and Memorial Hospital-based investigators including those in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program. The Zuckerman Research Center will also contain many core facilities shared by research groups in both Sloan-Kettering Institute and Memorial Hospital including the High-Throughput Screening, Molecular Cytology, Molecular Cytogenics, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Analytical Core Facilities.