McKinney & Company was engaged as the principal design firm for the Danville Research Building, Phase I facility located in the City of Danville Cyber Park. We also provided programming and schematic site design for a campus of multiple life science buildings.

Construction of the building shell was completed, and the tenant upfit for occupancy by the Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Department, providing space for automotive testing and research programs. The laboratory / research building was designed to support BSL-2 and BSL-3 sciences, and provides a main entrance to the east and a quadrangle entrance to the west connecting to the Institute which is the only existing building on the 20-acre campus. Site grading created terraced parking following existing contours to reduce visual impact. Low-impact design of stormwater management is also incorporated into the site design. The L-shaped building divides the lab wing to the north and the research wing to the south with a common node in the center. The architectural skins build on the vocabulary of materials that are complementary of the Institute, and include masonry exteriors, punched windows and metal curtain wall systems. Windows are designed to bring in large amounts of natural light. This project was partially funded by the Economic Development Administration.