ProjectsTexas & SoutheastBest Projects2026
ENR 2026 Texas & Southeast Best Projects
Photo by Keith Isaacs
Spark Life
Morrisville, N.C.
Award of Merit
Submitted by: Brasfield & Gorrie
Owner: Trinity Capital Advisors
Lead Design Firm: Hanbury
General Contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie
Civil Engineer: Kimley Horn
Landscape Architect: Surface 678
Seven buildings are the first of a multiphase project providing high-quality lab and biomanufacturing space for the life sciences sector. But the project team had to design and build the facility with no knowledge of its future tenants. That made flexibility critical on this $166-million design-assist project to ensure building systems and infrastructure coordination across all structures. Spanning 97 acres, the campus houses more than 750,000 sq ft of building space, along with a 966-space parking deck and a range of outdoor gathering spaces. Permitting added another layer of complexity because projects of this size are uncommon in Morrisville. To keep approvals aligned with construction, the team stayed closely engaged with town officials through the project’s entire duration.
With more than 33 miles of underground utilities crossing the campus, avoiding strikes was critical. Brasfield & Gorrie used a hydro-vac process to expose utilities before excavation and implemented a digital dig-board system, creating a live GPS-based map of underground conditions that let teams plan work with a clear picture of what lay beneath them.
