Introducing Element Labs

by Aaron Olver
Director, University Research Park

URP Element LabElement Labs is University Research Park’s latest effort to create a home where science can flourish. Since 1984, the park has been a place committed to the idea that no problem is out of the reach of science and that no one makes more rapid progress than a community of innovators.

University Research Park, a nonprofit affiliated with the University of Wisconsin – Madison, is home today to about 125 companies that employ about 4,100 workers. Collectively, these companies are tackling some of our greatest challenges. Cancer. Diabetes. Viral infection. Petrochemical addiction. And they are working to unlock life-improving opportunities like renewable energy and artificial intelligence.

Today, this work is exploding in the Madison area. Take life sciences, a hallmark of the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Of the twenty-five metro regions in the United States with the most life science workers, Madison is the only metro region with less than two million people. We punch way above our weight and this sector is growing employment at five to ten percent a year here.

These companies thrive in a community of scientists and innovators and Element Labs aspires to give them a place to reach the next level. Construction has begun and delivery is expected in the second half of 2023.

Element Collective Mineral Point and Whitney WayLocated at the prominent corner of Mineral Point Road and Whitney Way, Element Labs symbolizes the nobility of pursuing big ideas. Designed by Perkins + Will and constructed by J.H. Findorff & Sons and the teams under their leadership, Element Labs will deliver 147,000 square feet of state-of-the art laboratory and office space. The soaring glass curtainwall speaks to the transparency of scientific inquiry and focusing daylight to clear away murkiness. They varying architectural fins break down the building into vignettes and remind us that no company is too small to chase a big idea.

The building is designed with enhanced HVAC, electrical, and plumbing features to support modern lab environments. Its capabilities include capacity to prevent air recirculation between floors, sufficient exhaust to support fume hoods and cooling, germicidal UV light system, lab waste drain systems, separate electrical metering by floor, vibration control, and backup power generation.

It’s not just physical space, though. Element Labs is designed to help companies attract and retain and talent and to encourage Madison’s scientific and technology community to gather.

The first floor contains space designed for a restaurant, the first in University Research Park. Our aspiration is to attract a locally-owned operator whose food and beverage offerings and inviting space will create a place for scientists and business leaders to gather. Next to the restaurant space, Element Hall will provide a dramatic multi-function space for all-hands meetings, shareholder presentations, scientific talks, company movie nights, holiday parties, or space to just hang out. And just outside, wet ponds will meet Madison’s two-hundred-year storm water standard while providing an attractive backdrop for the restaurant patio and the terraces outside Element Hall.

Element Labs is the centerpiece of the new Element Collective district. In this area, University Research Park is working with the Mandel Group to implement a mixed-use vision to create a living room for the park. Mandel is working to bring apartments, fitness, additional food and beverage, and a hotel.

 

Leasing is underway. If your organization would like to consider Element Labs as your home, please contact us:

Paul Muench, Associate Director & Element Labs developer
Aaron Olver, Managing Director

University Research Park
505 S. Rosa Road, Suite 201
Madison, WI 53719
608-441-8000
info@urp.wisc.edu