Exciting progress is underway on the new Laboratory in Willemstad. The vibrant blue facade is starting to show. It contrasts beautifully with the warm tones of the neighboring Curaçao Medical Center (CMC). We wanted to share the progress to the users of the building, that is why we’ve organized a tour with ADC and their staff.
The design divides the facade into distinct volumes, each painted a different color, unified by a stony plaster finish that ensures cohesion. You can see the colors already coming to life. The blue facades are more than just eye-catching—it’s designed to evoke a sense of cleanliness and professionalism.
Sterile spaces
Creating a unique identity for the lab was a key priority. While connected to the CMC both physically—via an underground pipe system—and in spatial layout, the lab stands apart. The façade features a repeating rhythm of 90 cm modules alternating between windows and walls. This design allows future flexibility, as the layout can be adjusted in increments of 90 cm. Despite these shared structural principles, the two buildings differ significantly in use, design, and color.
What is special when you design a laboratory is the many restrictions. Several rooms have a biosafety level, which means that biological substances are used here. You must take all kinds of precautions in your design. There are four levels of biosafety. Some rooms have a high biosafety level (3), then you must ensure that as little dust as possible can remain in the room. In these types of rooms, you make as much of the surface as smooth as possible, and where possible let the floor and wall merge into each other.
Places to meet
With our design there is a play in how the spaces are experienced. In rooms where people do research or work you’ll experience a sterile environment. These are spaces that often have to meet specific requirements, as mentioned earlier. As a counterpart, there are also shared spaces where we have made the atmosphere warmer, by using more color and other types of materials. These are the spaces where people can meet each other. The current, outdated lab has a closed core. You can’t even see people on the other side of the corridor when you are walking by. That is why it is important to create more openness now and to create places where you can make contact. We have turned the position of the stairs in such a way that people cross each other. Which hopefully contributes to more encounters and exchange of information or cross-pollination between colleagues. That idea translates into more elements of our design, for example the elevator doors are also made of glass.
We’ve added greenery to these places where people encounter one another to create a nice environment. In addition to the plants and greenery in the design, the building will also be ‘green’. The lab incorporates sustainability throughout. High-performance insulation, sun blinds to minimize heat gain, and a water recycling system for greenery irrigation are key features. Just like the CMC, the lab will collect up to 5 cubic meters of water daily from air conditioners for reuse. Solar panels and infrastructure for future deep-sea water cooling further reflect the commitment to energy efficiency and environmental innovation.
Next up
With the realization of the new laboratory in Willemstad, the working conditions of laboratory technicians will be improved. At the same time, this design makes better and larger scientific research possible to improve health care. In the beginning of December 2024 we gave a tour to some of ADC staff, that will work here in the future. They were very happy to see how their new offices will look.
Hopefully they will complete the building next year. Once finished, this landmark facility will set new standards for laboratory design and research in the region.
