Moffitt Opens 250,000-Square-Foot Research Center at Life Sciences Campus

The new 250,000-square-foot Moffitt Discovery and Innovation Center at Speros features flexible research laboratories and collaborative spaces. | Photo Credit: DLR Group | Tsoi Kobus Design 

• The Moffitt Discovery and Innovation Center brings cancer biology, drug discovery and bioengineering together on the 775-acre Speros campus. 
• DLR Group | Tsoi Kobus Design incorporated modular laboratories, shared research resources and dedicated collaboration spaces. 
• The 250,000-square-foot facility stands beside the Moffitt Speros Outpatient Center, which opened in January 2026. 

LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. — Moffitt Cancer Center has opened a 250,000-square-foot research facility at Speros, its 775-acre life sciences campus, with a design that brings cancer biology, drug discovery and bioengineering into a single building. Facility designer DLR Group | Tsoi Kobus Design announced the opening in an Oct. 22 release following a celebration with Moffitt leaders, project partners and elected officials. 

The Moffitt Discovery and Innovation Center combines specialized research areas with shared laboratories and collaboration spaces. Modular laboratory infrastructure and reconfigurable open floor plans are intended to accommodate changing research needs. 

The facility includes BSL-2 laboratories and a Comparative Medicine Core with walkable interstitial service space, along with designated zones for each research discipline. Equipment rooms line the central corridors to reduce heat loads and noise while preserving laboratory floor space, according to the design firm. A core-lab model gives researchers access to shared resources and is intended to improve space efficiency. 

“By creating a place where researchers can see one another’s work and share ideas, Moffitt is building new pathways to discovery,” said Rick Kobus, Senior Principal and Client Leader, according to a press release provided by DLR Group. 

Outside the laboratories, a multistory collaboration zone offers views of the surrounding landscape and space for researchers to interact. A multipurpose conference room at ground level is designed to accommodate collaboration with external partners. 

For the exterior, designers paired ground-level natural stone cladding with ultra-high-performance concrete on the remainder of the building. The material selections are intended to reduce maintenance requirements and provide long-term durability, with the design responding to the surrounding protected wetlands and climate conditions. 

The research building stands next to the Moffitt Speros Outpatient Center, also designed by DLR Group | Tsoi Kobus Design, which opened in January 2026. The outpatient facility uses warm materials, landscape views and circulation planned for intuitive navigation. The two buildings are the first facilities to open at Speros. According to the design firm, the projects establish a shared architectural identity for the campus. 

“Scientists from different disciplines will work side by side, share the most advanced technology and move resulting therapies to patients faster,” said Dr. Patrick Hwu, Moffitt’s President and CEO. 

Whiting-Turner served as the general contractor for the Discovery and Innovation Center project, which broke ground in March 2022. 

This article is based on a press release issued by DLR Group | Tsoi Kobus Design on Oct. 22, 2026. 

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