Client Portfolio
Heffron has delivered mechanical construction across one of Maryland’s most significant life-sciences campuses in Rockville — from the original 650,000-square-foot research headquarters built for Human Genome Sciences to follow-on work supporting the site’s later use as a global vaccines R&D center under GSK.
The campus has since passed through three major biopharma owners, a testament to the lasting quality of the facilities Heffron helped build.
Featured Projects
Rockville, MD
Rockville, MD · Capital Research Campus
Rockville, MD · 9800 Medical Center Drive
Rockville, MD • Completed Nov 2003 · MEP Engineer: RMF Engineering
Heffron delivered the complete mechanical construction for Human Genome Sciences’ new World Headquarters in Rockville — a 650,000-square-foot, three-building Y-configuration research complex anchoring one of Maryland’s most significant life-sciences campuses.
The scope spanned a six-story administrative building, a four-story research facility, and a four-story clinical development facility, including 280,000 square feet of BL-2 containment laboratories. Mechanical systems were engineered and installed in coordination with RMF Engineering to meet the precision, redundancy, and containment requirements of high-throughput genomics research.
Two decades later, the campus has passed through three major biopharma owners — a testament to the lasting quality of the facilities Heffron helped build.
Rockville, MD · Capital Research Campus • 14200 Shady Grove Road — GSK Vaccines R&D Era
Following GSK’s 2012 acquisition of the Rockville Capital Research Campus, Heffron performed mechanical construction on select campus buildings and laboratories supporting the site’s use as a global vaccines R&D center.
The work continued a relationship that began with the original headquarters build — the same crews returning to the same campus, now under a new owner and a new research mission. Maintaining mechanical reliability across an active biopharmaceutical environment, where uptime and validated performance carry direct programmatic weight, defined every phase of the scope.
Rockville, MD · 9800 Medical Center Drive • Dec 2001 – Apr 2002 · MEP Engineer: Vanderweil Engineering
When Human Genome Sciences acquired a group of existing buildings from Life Technologies at 9800 Medical Center Drive, the program called for transforming a corporate office property into a working research environment. Heffron self-performed the mechanical scope to convert Building B from pure office space into a mixed office and laboratory facility ready for HGS science.
Crews installed acid waste piping, laboratory and medical-grade gas systems, clean compressed air, laboratory vacuum, and a new RO/DI pure water system on the second floor to feed the building’s expanded lab utilities. Heffron also set, piped, and coordinated start-up for the owner-furnished Kuhlman electric steam boiler and autoclave.
Heffron managed start-up, test and balance, and delivered complete turnover packages for every new and existing system. The full conversion was completed in five months — on a live campus, alongside ongoing operations — with zero jobsite injuries.
Partner with Heffron
From early design assist through startup and commissioning, Heffron self-performs the mechanical scope your team can build a schedule around.
