When St. Jude Children's Research Hospital needed a GMP facility to further its mission of finding cures for catastrophic childhood illnesses, the hospital turned to The Austin Company to implement this extremely critical project. It is the only on-site pediatric cancer research center of its kind bringing research and product development together under one roof.

The facility features a core unit dedicated to producing highly specialized medicines and vaccines that pharmaceutical companies are reluctant to produce in small quantities due to high costs. The facility also includes Biological Safety Level 3 (BSL-3) laboratories that allow researchers to work with microorganisms that must be specially contained. Not only does the facility meet St. Jude's current requirements, its extremely flexible and modular design allows it to quickly adapt to new demands as ongoing research discoveries lead St. Jude scientists in new directions. The programming and design effort addressed the procedural issues of personnel; material, product and waste flows; HVAC pressurization and zoning; location and access of mechanical systems; and architectural finishes.