United Therapeutics, Unisphere

Overview

A National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) and Landscape Contractors Association (LCA) award-winning project. United Therapeutics is a biotechnology company, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, that is focused on the development and commercialization of innovative products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and life-threatening conditions. The company views its buildings as physical manifestations of its values and wants to create structures that reflect their mission of saving lives. This building, which is phase III in their Silver Spring footprint, was designed to be Net Zero Site energy by utilizing 3,000 solar panels, a quarter-mile underground earth labyrinth, and an atrium pool that acts as a heat sink. The 210,000 square-foot, elliptical shaped “Unisphere” houses clinical operations for pulmonary disease, heart failure, and organ transplantation as well as In Silico molecular biology – a virtual drug development lab.

Project Scope

The project involved the installation included concrete flatwork throughout the site (4700 SF of concrete flatwork, 18,000 SF of subslab; 640 LF of curb and gutter; 245 LF of stairs, 475 LF of seat walls); 2500 LF of caulking; all pavers (21,000 SF); all landscape (30 trees, 350 shrubs, 4500 perennials/groundcover); 850 yards of soil; 80 silva cells; and site amenities (bike racks, bollards and trash cans).