The construction of the Louisiana Cancer Research Center was initiated in April 2009 and completed by 2012. The research facility is located at Tulane Avenue in the New Orleans Medical Research District, US. The facility was sponsored by the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium (LCRC) which consists of Tulane University, the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Xavier University, and Ochsner Health System.

The centre includes core research facilities in the fields of immunology, genomics, imaging, proteomics and adult stem cell core. It was constructed with an investment of $102m.

The faculty at the research centre engage in the discovery and development of innovative cancer therapies that can lead to innovative clinical treatment programmes.

Tulane University was the first to move into the new facility in May 2013. It occupied half of the seventh floor and the complete eighth floor in the building. The Tulane University cancer research team, consisting of over 80 staff, have moved into the building.

The facility will also be occupied by Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and Xavier University researchers to carry out cancer research activity.

Design of the cancer research centre

The research facility has a total floor space of 175,000ft² spread accross the 10-storey building. Six floors are designed to provide administration and research activities, while two floors are unfinished and will be used in future.

A big conference room is located at the first floor of the building. The conference room is facilitated with sophisticated communication equipment, and can accommodate up to 500 people. The spacious lobby of the building is used for receptions.

The building also has about 25,000ft² of space allocated for offices of LCRC staff and investigators, and other public usage.

The centre is designed to provide standard and modern research facilities that can help investigators to communicate and collaborate more frequently.

Cancer research facilities at the facility in Louisiana

The facility brought all the LCRC research faculty and lab resources under one roof. It is facilitated with open-format labs and state-of-the-art research equipment.

The building has over 32,000ft² of laboratory space spread across three floors. The laboratory facilities include procedure rooms, linear lab bays, freezers and a centralised wash area. They also include access to glassware and sterilisation facilities, darkrooms and an environmental room.

Louisiana Cancer Research Center construction

Louisiana Cancer Research Center broke ground for construction in April 2009. The building was constructed using concrete from the ground floor to the fifth floor, and using structural steel from the fifth to tenth floor. The construction crews used two sets of concrete columns measuring 24in x 30in up to fifth floor, and used transfer beams to support the structural steel from the fifth to tenth floor.

The ten-storey research building was initially planned to be constructed in October 2005, but the construction was postponed due to Hurricane Katrina.

Contractors involved with the project

The new research facility building was designed by RMJM in association with Lyons & Hudson Architects.

The general construction contract for the project was awarded to Brice Building Company. Miller Masonry was awarded the masonry contract. The Concrete Products Group was awarded a contract to provide its Spec-Finish concrete masonry wall units inside the building.

Financing the Louisiana Cancer Research Center

The Louisiana State Legislature created funds for the construction of the cancer research centre by increasing the sales tax on tobacco. The Louisiana State Legislature also contributed $38m in cash and $64m in House Bill 2 (HB2) for building the facility.