Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC) Surgical Facility

The TNPRC Surgical Facility is a 6,000 SF addition to an existing building which houses a 4,000 SF advanced technology animal surgery complex and a 2,000 SF mechanical penthouse. The new facility includes state-of-the-art operating rooms, animal prep and recovery areas, procedure rooms, sterile processing, and personnel support areas. It serves as one of eight centers that comprise the National Primate Research Centers Program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with over 320 employees and an economic impact estimated at $70.1 million a year. The Center is dedicated to providing infrastructure and support for basic and applied research efforts to advance scientific knowledge and improving human and animal health and well-being.

This project involved design and construction of the state-of-the-art surgical facility appended to the east side of Building 21. The building houses Non-Human Primates assigned to infectious disease research studies and animals from the TNPRC AIDS SPF breeding colony. The new facility provides two surgical theaters, surgeons scrub area, two minimally invasive procedure spaces, multi-station animal prep area, recovery area, radiology suite, sterilization room, support office, and personnel locker/shower/restrooms. It is designed to provide clean-to-soiled traffic flow with separate entrances for animal transport, staff access, and materials/waste. An open plan enhances circulation and line-of-sight. The utility systems provide redundancy and directional airflow to maximize aseptic conditions and both animal and human safety. The design is fully compliant with the Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), AAALAC and the NIH Design Requirements Manual.

Special features include state-of-the-art integrated operating room technology systems with video capability and movable displays, centrally distributed nitrous oxide, nitrogen, oxygen, medical air, medical vacuum, and waste anesthesia gas systems, and flexible mobile casework with cantilevered countertops.