National Institute for Nanotechnology

The National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) at the University of Alberta in Edmonton is dedicated to research in physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, informatics, pharmacy and medicine. Established in 2001, NINT is operated as a partnership between the university and the National Research Council of Canada.

The institute is constructed as two physically independent buildings: a seven-storey conventionally constructed concrete tower, and an adjoining single-storey wing of “characterization suites” which house some of the world’s most sensitive high-resolution characterization microscopes.

The stringent requirements for vibration control, the prevention of electromagnetic interference, and other environmental controls for the characterization suites made NINT’s design and construction very different from that of ordinary buildings. With a construction cost of $48 million, the gross building area is 20,370 square metres.

Some of the earliest technical work on the project was done by experts to characterize the site and conduct field measurements of ground vibrations, electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI). Compounding the challenges, an existing underground utility tunnel runs through the heart of the NINT site. In the final design, the utility tunnel is encapsulated within the basement of the NINT main building.

After identifying the site’s “sweet spot,” i. e. the area with the lowest levels of ambient vibration, the architectural planning evolved so that the most sensitive characterization labs would be located in a structurally separate building wing located at this sweet spot.