North, Reading, MA– Columbia Construction Company was awarded a project
by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to serve as their Construction Manager for
the new Laboratory for Ocean Sensors and Observing Systems (LOSOS). A groundbreaking
ceremony was held on August 4, and was led by Dr. Susan Avery, president and director of
WHOI. Ellenzweig, of Cambridge Mass., is the Architect. Other team members include Bard,
Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers, LLC (BR+A), MEP/FP; Stephen Stimson Associates,
Landscape Architects; Acentech, Acoustical Engineers; Holmes and McGrath, Inc., Land Survey/
Civil Engineers; and LeMessurier Consultants, Structural Engineers.
The building will house laboratory and office space for the NSF-sponsored Ocean Observatories
Initiative (OOI). WHOI is the lead implementing organization for the coastal and global
components of that initiative. The structure will also include laboratory and office space for the
Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO), a state of the art underwater research facility
and test site constructed and operated by WHOI; the Ocean Bottom Seismometer Instrument
Pool (OBSIP), an NSF-funded facility providing instrumentation in support of marine geology,
seismology and geodynamics research; and the Environmental Sample Processor Lab (ESP),
where procedures will be performed for genetic identification of marine organisms and for
clarifying their role in biogeochemical cycles.
Construction on the planned 27,000 sf building is expected to begin in March 2011, with a
planned occupancy date of June 2012. The cost of the project is estimated to be $10,000,000.