Emory University, Health Sciences Research Building II

The Health Sciences Research Building (HSRB) II is a new 350,000 sf lab facility for the Woodruff Health Sciences Center and the School of Medicine at Emory University, the Center for Systems Imaging, and the Division of Animal Resources.

The building features wet and dry labs, an imaging facility, a vivarium, a BSL-3/ABSL-3 lab, faculty offices, and formal and informal collaboration spaces. The program also included renovation and expansion to the existing vivarium space as well as connections to the existing HSRB-I.

As national leaders in sustainability, Emory, HOK, and Vanderweil pushed the boundaries for sustainable research laboratory design to reduce both energy and water consumption. The design ultimately achieved a modeled EUI of 156 kBTU/sf/yr, achieving significant energy reductions for heating and cooling, ventilation, and lighting.

The facility features an innovative heat recovery system as well as a blackwater treatment system. This project achieved LEED Gold. Emory’s Health Sciences Research Building II was the winner of the 2025 SEFA Lab of the Year, recipient of the ENR Southeast Award: Best Project, Higher Education/Research (2023) and was named the Overall Winner of the 2025 I2SL: International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories Buildings & Projects Award for New Construction.