Vines Architecture Selected to Lead Planning Stages for Henrietta Lacks Hall

Johns Hopkins University officials announced Saturday Vines Architecture has been selected to lead the planning stages for a multidisciplinary building on the university’s East Baltimore campus that will honor the legacy of Henrietta Lacks.

The announcement was made at the 10th annual Henrietta Lacks Memorial Lecture, which honors the legacy of Lacks, whose HeLa cell line has contributed to many significant advances in medicine, including the development of the polio vaccine to the study of HPV, HIV/AIDS, and leukemia. A year ago at the annual lecture, the university first announced plans to name a campus building in honor of Lacks.

The building will occupy the site adjacent to the Berman Institute of Bioethics’ Deering Hall, located at the corner of Ashland Avenue and Rutland Avenue, north of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The building will support programs that enhance participation and partnership with members of the community in research that can benefit the community, as well as extend the opportunities to further study and promote research ethics and community engagement in research through an expansion of the Berman Institute and its work.

Groundbreaking is anticipated for 2020, with planned completion in 2023.

Vines Architecture, an award-winning architecture firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina, has expertise in libraries, museums, and cultural institutions as well as educational and university facilities. Architect Victor Vines, the firm’s founder, led the Phase One Programming & Planning Phase team that produced the research and decision-making programming for the design of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. He has also worked with Vines Architecture design director Bob Thomas on a number of transformative projects, including the North Carolina A&T State University Student Center and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte, North Carolina, both of which have won awards from the American Institute of Architects.

“Working with Johns Hopkins and Vines Architecture has been an awesome experience,” said Jeri Lacks, granddaughter of Henrietta Lacks. “It means a lot to us that they have included our family in this process. Our input will help ensure that my grandmother’s personality is present in the building.”