SAN DIEGO, Nov. 19 Kornberg Associates Architects (http://www.kornberg.com) has opened a Tokyo office. The company has also been retained by the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology (OIST) to help design a new government funded scientific research campus and graduate university. Ken Kornberg, president and founder, made the announcement.

"Having a presence in Japan opens up many doors for us and further solidifies our international capabilities," said Kornberg. "We're also excited to be associated with OIST, which will be Japan's only English language graduate research campus."

Kornberg is collaborating on the 3,000 researcher, 2,500,000 square feet OIST campus design with Nikken Sekkei, Japan's largest architectural/engineering company, and Kuniken, Okinawa's largest architecture firm. The Nikken Sekkei, Kornberg Associates, Kuniken joint venture was awarded the project following an international design competition. OIST is located in the central area of Okinawa Prefecture along its western coast and connects to a beachfront area on the coast of the East China Sea. Phase 1, which will accommodate 500 researchers, includes 700,000 square feet of research buildings, a central energy plant and the first portion of the new village which will house half the campus staff.

Laboratory buildings and support facilities will be located on natural ridges leaving sensitive canyon areas undisturbed. These facilities will be accessed from the village by a glazed corridor suspended above a man-made lake with an underground tunnel-shaped gallery leading to an 85-foot high in-ground elevator. Core research facilities at the campus center include a synchrotron, electron microscopes, nuclear magnetic resonance devices, mass spectrometers and a sequencing center. BSL3 labs will also be included (Bio-Safety Level 3; the third level in a system of standards/protocols to maintain safety and contain bio-hazards - BSL-4 is the highest). Research buildings have been planned in a cluster formation, connected by skywalks to further reduce impact on ecologically-sensitive canyon areas. The library, auditorium, and cafeteria will be centrally located in the research campus grounds. The centralized campus layout and underground entry were designed to minimize environmental impact.

Kornberg Associates Architects (http://www.kornberg.com), established in 1979, provides a full range of architectural services and has completed more than 500 projects worldwide. These have included pharmaceutical and biomedical research labs, clinical care facilities, medical centers, office/administrative buildings, conference centers and schools. Project scale ranges from tenant improvement/renovation to complete buildings and campuses. Offices are located in San Diego and Menlo Park, CA; and Tokyo.Contact: Neal Leavitt Leavitt Communications (760) 639-2900 neal@leavcom.com Mike Mulvey Kornberg Associates Architects (619) 681-1100 mike@kornberg.com

SOURCE Kornberg Associates Architects