Busting the Myth of Adaptive Reuse: Lessons in Retrofitting Labs for Structural Performance and Sustainability
2025 Lab Design Conference speaker—Harshda Prasad, managing director/associate at LPA Design Studios
As the demand for life science and advanced technology spaces grows, adaptive reuse has become a popular strategy for creating laboratories within existing structures. The appeal is clear: sustainability, speed to market, cost efficiency, and revitalization of underused real estate. But while the concept is sound, converting an office, warehouse, or even a former toy store into a high-performance lab is far from straightforward.
Busting the Myth of Adaptive Reuse: Structural Challenges for Diverse Building Types, a session at the 2025 Lab Design Conference in Denver, CO, tackled the realities of retrofitting buildings for lab use. Harshda Prasad, managing director/associate at LPA Design Studios, along with Isabel Mandujano, director of laboratory planning at LPA Design Studios (and a member of the Lab Design News editorial advisory board) and Mark Seidl, preconstruction lead at DPR Construction, offered critical takeaways for architects, lab planners, and facilities managers navigating renovation projects.
Not every building should be a lab
“Philosophically, yes—any building can be converted to a laboratory,” said Prasad. “But should it be? Is it a good idea?” That’s the question every team must address early in the project, she noted.
Multiple variables determine feasibility: location, market demand, budget, timeline, and the intended lab use. The further along a company is in its life cycle, the more infrastructure and performance its lab will require.
“Startups graduating from incubators can often operate with minimal retrofit,” added Mandujano
Each building type—wood, steel, concrete, and warehouse—offers distinct advantages and drawbacks when adapted for lab use. A one-size-fits-all strategy simply doesn’t work.
Wood-framed buildings
Quick to retrofit and cost-effective, these are often found in prime urban locations. But they typically lack the structural capacity for lab use. “They have lower floor-to-floor heights and live load capacity,” Prasad explained to the Lab Design Conference audience. Achieving lab-grade vibration performance is difficult and often requires “adding columns, new joists, or even replacing part of the building with steel framing,” she added. Wood buildings may suit early-stage or computational labs but rarely meet the needs of robust wet lab environments.
Steel-framed buildings
2025 Lab Design Conference speaker—Isabel Mandujano, director of laboratory planning at LPA Design Studios, and Lab Design News editorial advisory board member
These mid-rise office buildings are more adaptable and available in desirable locations. Steel systems offer greater flexibility, especially when enhanced through retrofitting. “We can weld WT sections to existing beams or install tuned mass dampers,” said Prasad. However, vibration remains a concern. “Typical office buildings are designed for human comfort—10,000 to 12,000 MIPS,” she explained. “Lab equipment needs vibration thresholds as low as 2,000 MIPS.” Targeted retrofits and close collaboration with structural engineers can resolve many of these issues.
Warehouse or industrial structures
Warehouses—often single-story with open spans and high ceilings—are ideal for heavy equipment, cleanrooms, or manufacturing. “They’re great for intensive mechanical systems,” said Seidl. But they present challenges too: “Excessive ceiling height can make it difficult to maintain human scale and daylight access,” Mandujano noted. Mezzanines, skylights, and roof reinforcements are common strategies for adapting these spaces to lab use.
Concrete buildings
Offering high mass and inherent vibration dampening, concrete structures excel in performance. “You often get vibration criteria for free,” said Prasad. But that comes at a price: concrete is harder and more costly to modify. “Retrofitting concrete means shotcreting beams or adding post-tensioning, which is intensive,” she added. And concrete’s high embodied carbon can challenge sustainability goals—although keeping the structure in use offsets that to an extent.
Plan for performance, not just layout
Lab conversion requires more than new partitions and benches. “Most buildings weren’t designed to support the weight or vibration needs of lab equipment,” said Seidl. Teams must account for not only structural upgrades but also massive MEP system overhauls. “A lot of the HVAC, piping, and lab gas loads are hung from the floor above,” Seidl noted at the Lab Design Conference. “So we’re not just reinforcing the current floor—we’re retrofitting the one above it too.”
Another consideration: where and how to place sensitive equipment. A helpful strategy involves creating a performance “heat map” of the building. “You can place vibration-sensitive equipment in areas that already perform better structurally and reduce the retrofit burden,” said Mandujano.
Collaborate early—and often
All three speakers emphasized one message: get your full project team involved from the start. “It's really important to have an architectural designer, structural engineer, contractor, HVAC, and MEP engineers on board early,” said Prasad. “Good decisions can be made early on to have lesser impact on cost and effort down the line.”
Mandujano highlighted an example where structural columns were strategically hidden in the casework to preserve an open lab feel: “When Harshda came to me and said, ‘I need to add columns,’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ But because we collaborated early, we placed them where they disappeared into the umbilicals. It still feels like an open lab.”
Balance sustainability and constructability
2025 Lab Design Conference speaker—Mark Seidl, preconstruction lead at DPR Construction
Sustainability remains a strong driver for adaptive reuse. “Embodied carbon gets locked in on day one,” said Prasad. “When we reuse a building, we avoid that cradle-to-grave carbon impact.” But sustainability and constructability can be at odds. “Concrete buildings have high embodied carbon. When you add shotcrete or new walls, you’re adding even more,” she said. The key is balancing reuse with performance goals—and avoiding demolition wherever possible.
The team also noted innovative technologies that support occupant well-being, such as solar tubes to improve daylight access and reduce energy usage without adding skylights that may leak or compromise the structure.
Takeaways for lab projects
Actionable lessons from this Lab Design Conference session:
Evaluate the building type carefully. Each structure requires a different retrofit strategy. Use a decision matrix that weighs cost, flexibility, structural performance, and sustainability.
Know your lab user. Understand the stage of company development and the specific research activities. Design criteria will vary for early-stage, clinical, and manufacturing users.
Anticipate structural limitations. Floor loads, vibration control, mechanical zoning, and hazardous material storage must be addressed from the outset.
Engage a full team early. Cross-discipline collaboration is essential for solving retrofit challenges effectively and cost-efficiently.
Don’t rely on one-size-fits-all solutions. Every retrofit is case-specific. Tailor your strategy accordingly.
Use innovative retrofit methods. Consider tuned mass dampers, FRP reinforcement, vibration isolation tables, or even strategic program zoning within the building.
Balance sustainability and performance. Adaptive reuse is sustainable—but only if it also meets the long-term needs of the lab program.
As Mandujano concluded: “Adaptive reuse has many benefits—environmental, economic, and human—but not every building is right for every lab. The success of your project comes down to knowing what you’re trying to achieve, and assembling the right team to get you there.”
Facing the choice between renovating an existing structure or starting from scratch? Join fellow lab users and project teams at the 2026 Lab Design Conference in Orlando, FL to explore the pros, cons, and lessons learned from real-world projects. Visit https://www.labdesignconference.com/ for updates on the agenda, networking opportunities, and optional workshops and behind-the-scenes local lab tours.
