HudsonAlpha Discovery Life Sciences Building ‘tops out’

Birmingham-based construction firm Brasfield & Gorrie recently celebrated the “topping out” of the HudsonAlpha Discovery Life Sciences building.

“Topping out” marks a structure reaching its full height. Construction on the lab and office building is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2023.

What the new building will serve

The new building on the HudsonAlpha campus will house Discovery Life Sciences, which conducts life science research and is currently located in a smaller space on the campus.

“Our Biotech Campus expansion advances HudsonAlpha’s strategic goals of generating economic impact and job growth, groundbreaking genomic research in human health and agriculture, and training the future biotech workforce. The return on investments made by HudsonAlpha, the state of Alabama, local governments and so many individuals will be seen for years to come. We are grateful for the continuing support of HudsonAlpha’s efforts.”

HudsonAlpha vice president of economic development Carter Wells

The 95,000-square-foot lab and office building included prefabricated exterior walls, which are a HudsonAlpha campus standard. Prefabricated materials are constructed off-site in a controlled environment, which increases safety and control of scheduling.

“Our new state-of-the-art global headquarters will allow us to consolidate all of our laboratories and operations into one truly spectacular building to achieve greater operational efficiencies and expand our capabilities more rapidly. We believe that the beauty and elegance of this structure will reflect the quality, excellence and innovation on which we pride ourselves as a company.”

Discovery CEO Glenn Bilawsky

Expansion on the HudsonAlpha campus

This is Brasfield & Gorrie’s third project with HudsonAlpha. Past work includes the recently opened research laboratories and greenhouse space, which is used to propagate and grow research plants, improve existing crops, and develop new uses for plants.

Additionally, there are educational learning laboratories to inspire and train students as they become the next generation of plant scientists. While much of the work in this new facility will be for the nonprofit research laboratories, agriculture companies will also rent space and collaborate with the institute’s research groups.

Gov. Kay Ivey was at the opening of the greenhouse facility and emphasized the importance of the Institute’s work and continued growth.

“For years, HudsonAlpha has been working with Alabama farmers to improve their crops and to make their land sustainable for future generations. The people working in this one-of-a-kind facility will use the power of genomics to strengthen Alabama agriculture, build an ag-focused workforce, and create new economic opportunities for our state.”

Gov. Kay Ivey

The greenhouse facility allows HudsonAlpha and other community partners — like Alabama A&M University and Auburn University — to work together on genomics-enabled projects for varieties of new crops.

With this opening, HudsonAlpha’s Center for Plant Science and Sustainable Agriculture will add significant lab and greenhouse space to propagate and grow research plants to improve existing crops, develop new uses for plants, lead more large-scale collaborations and develop low cost tools and genomic sequencing to link plant genes.

“HudsonAlpha is actively advancing science, not only for the benefit of our local communities, but for the world. It’s an honor to support their research as we build specialized facilities that will house these efforts.”

Brasfield & Gorrie Operations Manager Sara Beth Wilcox

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