The Bio Station may soon be getting a facelift if trustees receive permission to move ahead with $2.6 million worth of renovations.

Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) submitted a proposal for Planning Department approval last week which will see an additional two floors added to the Conklin building.

The building is intended to house labs where scientists will explore the link between ocean health and overall human health.

And it represents a $5 million commitment within a $20 million fundraising campaign intended to ensure the station has the space and resources to continue growing its programmes.

Should the building go ahead as planned, those gazing upon the station's landmark building on Ferry Reach would see a significantly different profile.

The architects for the proposal - Linberg and Simmons - submitted an artist's depiction of the Bio Station's new appearance with an aesthetically improved facade featuring a new eastern entrance and several verandas along with the plans.

The additional stories would be added to the eastern end of the Bio Station and will nearly double the size of the Conklin Laboratory - taking it from 10,800 square feet to 21,400 square feet.

Conklin is a three-level building attached to the BBSR's Wright Hall building. The new space would be earmarked for labs and offices.

According the BBSR trustee Michael Naess, the proposed facilities will double available research and educational space in Conklin.

BBSR hopes to use the new space for its growing research programme on marine genomics.

"Marine genomics applies the rapidly developing techniques of molecular biology and genetic engineering to previously intractable questions of marine microbial biology and ecology," according to a BBSR statement on the proposed building.

"Answers to questions as far removed from one another as 'What causes fish kills in Harrington Sound?' and 'How does plankton in the Sargasso Sea help protect us from global warming?' are the kinds of products that a programme in marine genomics will produce."

The recently submitted plan replaces an earlier proposal by the BBSR to add a stand alone lab building.

The application notes that the expense of the first proposal led BBSR to reconsider the plan and opt for additions to Conklin.

However, the new plan allows for the possibility of an additional stand alone, four storey building in the future.

"This design will allow us to provide the space we need at present, but at a lower cost," said Mr. Naess. "(But) recognising the potential for rapid growth of BBSR programmes in these new areas, the earlier design has not been withdrawn."

BBSR has secured a quarter of the $2.6 million needed to complete the project from private donors, Mr. Naess said. But the total fundraising goal of the project is $5 million in order to provide state of the art scientific instrumentation for scientists and students.

The Bio Station also hopes to establish an endowment fund to meet future spending needed to keep abreast of scientific and technological developments.

Mr. Naess said the project is the "cornerstone" of BBSR's New Horizon campaign where the station hopes to raise $20 million - $12 million has already been secured - for operating support, programmes, facilities and endowment.