Located on WHOI’s Quissett Campus, the 27,000 sf, 2-story Laboratory for Ocean Sensors and Observing Systems (LOSOS) structure includes laboratory and office space for a number of user groups. The facility is highly sustainable and technologically advanced, designed and constructed to promote collaboration and interaction.

As WHOI’s technical and functional needs span a wide spectrum of space types, each area of the building is tailored to specific user requirements. The design incorporates casework and building systems that are easily reconfigured. Areas include wet bench research space, special cleanroom environments, high-bay buoy service areas, carefully climate-controlled rooms for equipment calibration, and a range of instrument service areas.

As there were no prototypes to aid in the programming and design of such spaces, the team relied on discussions with building users. With the participation of WHOI scientists and engineers, many potential solutions were tested until the final design evolved to what LOSOS is today – a building that will be the home for the next generation of oceanography.