Confidential Research Lab
2025
Helping a high-performing lab plan a home for the emerging science of tomorrow
What does it take for a federal research lab that has long outgrown its current space to design a facility optimized for expanded biomedical and emerging clean energy research?
Scientists at a major federal research lab had operated out of the same facility for decades, while consistently driving advancements in biomedical innovation. When it was originally built, the lab was designed around a single piece of highly specialized scientific equipment, though as the work grew in volume and sophistication, the building itself could no longer keep pace.
Looking forward, the lab found opportunities to diversify its areas of study and expand into clean energy research (opening the door to new revenue opportunities). This growth meant one new facility would need to support two very different kinds of science, each with its own workflows, equipment, and space requirements.
Our Approach:
Interviews with Scientists and Lab Staff
Observational Research
Process Mapping
Peer Facility Analysis
Designing for the Known and Unknown
Through multiple site visits and conversations with a broad array of scientists and staff, our team developed detailed process maps outlining critical workflows, the spaces required to support them, opportunities for system optimization, and adjustments required to capitalize on emerging clean energy processes.
We built these maps in close collaboration with the scientists and the lab's architects, understanding and embracing the needs and constraints of these key stakeholders. Our capacity to balance the technical requirements of lab design with the nuanced differences between current biomedical workflows and future clean energy workflows ensured the new facility was optimally designed to support both. The result of our engagement in the process provided both the scientists and the architecture team a clear, shared foundation for a facility that will serve them for decades to come.
Our Impact:
New revenue opportunities tied to clean energy research, built into the facility design from the start.
A facility designed to support how the scientists actually work today and in the future.
Alignment across the science, design, and delivery teams.