In a collaboration between Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, the Jan & Dan Duncan Neurological Institute builds on their strengths in pediatric genetics and neuroscience. Texas Children’s Hospital officially opened NRI as the world’s first basic research institute dedicated to childhood neurological diseases. The facility is located in the heart of the Texas Medical Center in a 13-floor research tower. NRI researchers work in specially designed “collaboratories” — open labs that facilitate the free exchange of ideas, information and resources. The facility provides flexible, productive, open laboratory spaces that foster collaboration and collegiality. The twisting tower acts as a vertical bridge that connects the main research floors, while a horizontal walkway connects the building to nearby institutions. The NRI building incorporates several sustainable laboratory design strategies, an important feature given that research laboratories are high energy users.