Seattle Celebrates as Amgen Completes Construction of Massive $625 million Helix Biopharmaceutical Campus

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). What began as a project for the former Immunex Corporation has now been finished as the research jewel in the powerful biotech crown of the Amgen Corporation (NASDAQ: AMGN) (Thousand Oaks, California). When Amgen purchased Immunex and their blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug Enbrel in 2002, they also received the landmark Helix construction project in Seattle. Derived from the name of the double helix structure of DNA, the project had its formal groundbreaking in January 2001. Industrialinfo.com has been tracking and reporting on the project since 1996 (PEC 21000376).

The Helix project is a wonder of inventiveness and environmental friendliness. Faced with initial resistance from local citizen groups that feared possible loss of scenic views and traffic congestion, designers addressed these issues in innovative ways including a $10 million award-winning footbridge, which is shaped like a DNA molecule and provides pedestrian access over a freight rail line from the Amgen campus to the street. Buildings were "roofscaped" to contain mechanical equipment and thus providing a more pleasing aesthetic view.

Amgen scaled back the project cost and shifted the focus to arthritis and cancer drug research and development. The company is expected to initially employ 750 people at the Helix campus, with room for another 150. To foster efficient communication between other Amgen research sites in Thousand Oaks, California (Plant 1007716) and Cambridge, Massachusetts (Plant 1063115), Helix features advanced videoconference rooms.

The design and construction team including the following firms: Affiliated Engineers, Incorporated (Mechanical, Electrical, Piping and IT), Flad & Associates (Executive and Lab Architect), Koetter, Kim & Associates, Incorporated (Design Architect), KPFF Consulting Engineers (Civil and Structural), NDBBJ (Interior Architect) and Skanska Construction Company as Construction Managers.

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