A Laboratory in the Woods

In the heart of the green Upper Valley of New Hampshire, Adimab has opened a new chapter in its history with a freestanding building designed by Sylvia Richards Practice for Architecture. With 2,500 m² of floor space, the structure expands the company campus and brings laboratories, workstations, and meeting rooms together in a single building.

The project is not only a response to the growth of this provider of biologics discovery and engineering but is also a model of innovation that prioritizes people, nature, and scientific culture.

A shared vision

For over a decade, Adimab and Sylvia Richards have worked on building a corporate campus that reflects the company’s identity. Over time, additions and renovations have resulted in three buildings connected by programmed outdoor spaces and quiet landscape buffers across over 5,500 m² of New England landscape.

The new addition crystallizes this collaboration, demonstrating a shared commitment to positively affecting health, well-being, and the environment. This has translated into architecture designed to integrate with the surrounding woods and provide a stimulating work environment where quality of life is an essential element of the scientific process.

Compact and open

The building reads as a compact volume. Atlantic cedar cladding, bronze screening, and large windows framed with white oak and aluminum form the exterior envelope.

The engineered wood structure encloses warm, well-lit interior spaces where the materiality of wood dialogues with natural wool surfaces and contemporary furnishings. At the center, a large, but surprisingly light, black steel and oak suspended staircase forms the vertical focus and a symbol of the openness that defines the entire project.

The high-tech environments of the laboratories contrast with large windows overlooking lush greenery, with workstations integrated into the timber structure and illuminated by natural light.

Mirrored panels and a sculptural walkway

A number of distinctive elements contribute to defining this architecture. A band of mirrored panels at the base level visually separates the building from the ground while connecting it lightly to the landscape. With an almost surreal effect, the volume seems to lift off the ground and float above the greenery.

Arrival at the campus is marked by another key element, with a 55 m curved walkway in Cor-Ten and steel linking the parking area (outside the protected wetlands) to the entrance. Reminiscent of the monumental forms of Richard Serra’s artworks, its sculptural surfaces wind through the woods as it negotiates a nearly 3 m elevation change.

The walkway provides a slow transition from daily life to the workplace that embodies the project’s care for people and respect for the natural setting.

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