Creating the Future from the Past: An Environmental Case Study

2025 Lab Design Conference speaker—Larry Wright, senior associate at Leo A Daly

A vast inventory of mid-century modern research buildings across the United States faces pressing challenges: aging infrastructure, evolving technical demands, and the imperative to reduce carbon footprints. The Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute (AFRRI), located just north of Washington, DC, exemplifies how thoughtful renovation of complex, highly technical laboratory spaces can preserve architectural heritage while advancing sustainability and research excellence.

At the 2025 Lab Design Conference, Larry Wright, senior associate at Leo A Daly, presented an in-depth environmental study of the full gut renovation of AFRRI’s Repair Buildings 43 and 47. In his talk, Creating the Future from the Past—An Environmental Study on the Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute (AFRRI), Wright detailed how these buildings house vivariums critical to radiation injury research, requiring stringent safety and operational standards.

Preserving legacy and reducing embodied carbon

Wright began by citing Anne Lacaton, 2021 Pritzker Prize winner, who champions a no-demolition policy in architecture: “Demolition has become a short-term solution, an easy decision, as well as a mode of urban generation, and it is even a means for recycling. Yet, demolition is irreversible. Any demolition destroys a vast quantity of information, knowledge, layers, materials, and memories.”

This philosophy underscores the environmental importance of renovation. Wright explained, “Embodied carbon is the CO₂ emissions from new materials, extraction, manufacturing, transportation and disposal.” Renovating rather than rebuilding drastically reduces embodied carbon, which accounts for about half the carbon emissions of a building over a 20-year period, matching operational emissions.

AFRRI’s challenge: a patchwork campus in need of overhaul

AFRRI’s campus is a “hodgepodge” of seven buildings constructed between 1961 and 1978, expanded piecemeal over decades. Buildings 43 and 47—the vivariums—were failing to meet accreditation requirements, suffering HVAC and plumbing failures, and lacking appropriate species-specific care and storage spaces.

“The existing vivarium buildings were barely maintaining accreditation from the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC),” Wright noted. Because new military construction projects can take five or more years for approval, AFRRI chose renovation, allowing access to immediate repair funds and avoiding delays.

Leo A Daly was tasked with a facility assessment and master plan. The campus’s fragmented design caused redundant utilities, disconnected circulation, and “research fiefdoms.” The solution was consolidating research spaces into Building 46, which has the largest contiguous floor plate, and developing a main circulation spine to unify the campus.

The renovation involved a full gut of Buildings 43 and 47. Wright offered visuals of the structural columns and noted, “Even floor slabs were removed in large sections to install new underground utilities.” Occupants, including animals, were temporarily relocated to NIH facilities nearby, allowing an accelerated, uninterrupted construction schedule.

Structural and mechanical innovation

None of the buildings met modern seismic codes. Wright described their innovative use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) strips—“a polymer mesh... applied with epoxy”—to reinforce slabs without raising floors. Building 43 also required an interior structural grid to meet anti-terrorism force protection (ATFP) protocols, backing up exterior bearing walls to withstand bomb blasts.

Mechanically, the limited 12–13-foot floor-to-floor heights challenged HVAC installations. Solutions included running electrical raceways above door headers and emphasizing vertical duct runs to reduce ceiling plenum congestion.

Biosecurity improvements prevented unauthorized vivarium access. “We added a new circulation core on the north side of Building 47 as a neutral circulation spine,” Wright said, “creating a bypass corridor routed away from the vivarium, secured by access-controlled doors.” Elevators were designated “clean” or “dirty,” with distinct loading docks and cage wash areas, ensuring clear separation of clean and contaminated materials.

Improved functionality and flexibility

The renovation allowed reassessment of cage washing and storage space, a critical operational bottleneck. Pre-renovation, “dirty cages were stacking up in corridors,” Wright explained. By repurposing underutilized quarantine and storage areas, the team more than doubled cage wash capacity, installing two double cage washers and a tunnel washer, increasing throughput from washing one cage per 45 minutes to 12 cages in the same time frame.

Upper floors were outfitted with flexible animal and procedure rooms, with features such as sloped floors, drains, and hose bibs to enable easy conversion of spaces as needs evolve. HVAC systems were oversized intentionally to accommodate future animal population growth or space reallocation.

Green building and energy efficiency

Wright emphasized that embodied carbon from building materials and construction roughly equals 20 years of operational carbon emissions. Renovation reduces embodied carbon by about half compared to new construction. The project replaced exterior cladding with insulated metal panels and a fluid-applied air barrier, greatly improving envelope performance.

The vivarium’s stringent air change requirements—12 air changes per hour—pose energy challenges. To save energy, a membrane heat recovery system was installed, allowing exhaust air to transfer heat to incoming fresh air without cross-contamination. Wright explained, “It’s basically a membrane that separates the two air streams... it allows the heat to transfer between one stream to the other.”

Lighting was another major energy focus. Despite initial military hesitance due to concerns about interference with medical equipment, LED lighting was installed, doubling lumens per watt compared to fluorescents. Wright urged, “If you do anything, replace all your existing fluorescent lights, please.” The combined measures yielded a 26 percent energy reduction and helped secure LEED Silver certification.

Designing for flexibility and future growth

Wright advocated for flexible, multi-use spaces to maximize occupancy and program efficiency. “Building multi-use space like this one allows for the space to be occupied during more hours of the day, as opposed to having more spaces that are not occupied as frequently during the day,” he said. “It’s also a way you can try and consolidate your program and avoid building more space than you need by creatively utilizing what you have.”

A master plan or future expansion plan can help avoid future conflicts and ease growth. Wright gave an example from Fort Knox Medical Clinic, where a “simple block out on the other side for future expansion” was reserved, a “land banking space” to simplify later growth.

Wright also cautioned architects about over-designing. “I’ve been doing this for 31 years… there was an adage when I was in school that form follows function. I’m finding that there’s good reason that most buildings are just kind of square boxes… The dumb box can be creatively adapted to suit several different building functions.” He advised avoiding “overly sculptural forms” that limit flexibility and increase cost.

Regarding radiological concerns, Wright noted a hot pipe had to be preserved during demolition, but irradiated animals themselves do not emit radiation. Disposal of old radioactive piping required strict controls, including inspections by AFRRI’s radiation officer before disposal.

Wright also emphasized the value of fully vacating a facility during renovation rather than phasing work. “The best way to give the entire building over to the contractor in one shot and let them get the work done,” he said, citing noise and disruption risks to research and animal health if work occurs in occupied spaces.

On interactions with NIH, which temporarily housed AFRRI’s animals, Wright clarified that AFRRI staff managed those logistics, allowing the architectural team to focus on design and construction.

Energy recovery and LEED challenges

The membrane heat recovery system was installed to meet LEED Silver goals, despite typical concerns about contamination in vivariums. Wright described the technology as “a refinement” of older heat recovery wheels, “allowing the heat to transfer… while preventing cross-contamination.”

Achieving LEED credits in a vivarium was difficult, especially given the bearing wall structure and windowless design of Building 43. Benefits included location credits for urban siting near transit and amenities, and specifying less toxic materials where possible despite epoxy floors and paints.

On lighting, Wright recounted overcoming military reluctance to LED technology, which was driven by medical staff concerns over interference with sensitive equipment. He also addressed the importance of lighting for animal welfare: “The night lighting requirement… red light… was mainly there because AFRRI is associated with the medical military portion.”

The AFRRI renovation demonstrates how mid-century research facilities can be revitalized through careful planning, innovative structural and mechanical upgrades, and a commitment to sustainability. Wright’s presentation revealed the complexity and creativity required to balance historic preservation, animal research needs, and green building goals.

Hear more case studies of innovative lab projects at the 2026 Lab Design Conference in Orlando, FL, on May 11-14! Visit https://www.labdesignconference.com/ for information regarding the conference agenda, networking opportunities, and optional lab tours and workshops.