Integrating Lab Infrastructure: Casework as the Core of Cohesive Laboratory Design
2025 Lab Design Conference speaker—Steve Hackman, principal and senior laboratory planner, The Lamar Johnson Collaborative
At the 2025 Lab Design Conference in Denver, CO, Steve Hackman, principal and senior laboratory planner at The Lamar Johnson Collaborative, and Tina Moore, process engineer at Clayco Design & Engineering, explored the often-overlooked relationship between lab casework and the infrastructure that supports it. Their presentation, “Integrating Lab Infrastructure—Casework Solutions,” delved into how coordinated planning across architecture and engineering disciplines drives laboratory adaptability, efficiency, and long-term value.
“The core design principles will be the key to everything,” said Hackman. “Our goal … is to drill down into the casework and how we shape and plan for the lab, while including the engineering components of that system, which are, quite frankly, more than 50 percent of the success of the building.”
From firmness to flexibility
Hackman opened with a brief history lesson that connected ancient architectural theory to modern laboratory planning. Referencing Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci, and Le Corbusier, he noted how the enduring concepts of proportion, balance, and human-centered design still underpin high-performance lab environments today. “An ideal building was firm, had firmness, commodity, and delight—it was essentially functional and it was beautiful,” he said.
Those timeless ideals, he argued, directly inform the modular planning strategies used in contemporary labs. “Keeping it simple is the goal, but that’s actually really hard to do,” Hackman admitted. “Continuing to mandate a modular approach to design will help those decisions later and help with future adaptability.”
He outlined his “nine of 10” core principles of lab design: integrated modules, right-sizing, limited inventory, zoning between lab and office, clear organization, separated support, open environments, functional furniture, and—finally—sustainability. “If we follow these, the building will be sustainable for the long term. It’ll be an adaptable structure.”
Understanding casework systems
Hackman then walked the Lab Design Conference audience through the SEFA-10 classification system, which defines eight classes of laboratory casework, ranging from fixed cabinetry to mobile benches. “The Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association is a very helpful organization made up of manufacturers of casework that have over the years really helped to identify certain standards and guidelines that we need to follow or should follow,” he explained.
The classes, he said, reflect the evolving nature of lab work—from immovable, kitchen-like fixed cabinetry (Class 1) to free-standing, utility-integrated workstations (Class 7) and fully mobile, reconfigurable setups (Class 8). Each type offers distinct trade-offs in cost, flexibility, and infrastructure coordination.
“Class One is fixed, floor-mounted…I like to say it’s like a kitchen, but not to degrade that,” he joked. “There are definitely applications where fixed casework is important and helpful.”
By contrast, he praised the C-frame and table-based systems developed from mid-20th-century precedents like the Salk Institute. “Class Seven is free-standing workstations that come in a variety of shapes and sizes…essentially it’s a table with a rear upright leg that can support shelving and components,” he said. “It’s more of the theme of plug-and-play—uber flexibility.”
Hackman emphasized that choosing the right system isn’t just about aesthetics or cost. It’s about understanding how the service distribution, adaptability, and constructability of each system align with a lab’s long-term needs. “How constructible is it?” he asked. “With table-based systems, you can go in and put the floor down first, and then the lab casework comes like furniture. We call it lab furniture many times—not to be confused with office furniture.”
Engineering integration from the ground up
2025 Lab Design Conference speaker—Tina Moore, process engineer, Clayco Design & Engineering
Moore followed Hackman with a deep dive into utility distribution, underscoring the need for early collaboration between architectural and engineering teams. “When we start with the thoughtfully designed basic building structure and modules, that really sets us up for success when we start to fill in those modules with labs or office spaces,” she said. “Hopefully that helps us optimize our utility distributions and maximize the usefulness of the space for the end user while minimizing costs.”
At the building scale, Moore explained, planning questions such as whether to locate labs on the first or second floor can significantly influence utility runs, gravity drainage, and safety. “Obviously, the right answers to all those questions are highly individual to each end user,” she said. Options for air handling units—whether in penthouses, floor-by-floor mechanical rooms, or interstitial spaces—also shape the efficiency of maintenance and service delivery.
Zooming in to the lab scale, Moore detailed the growing preference for overhead utilities over service corridors. “That is much more economical from a square footage perspective—you just might have to consider accessibility a little bit more there,” she noted. Solutions range from ceiling service panels to umbilicals and movable service posts.
She also discussed considerations at the bench scale, where ergonomics and safety dictate how utilities are accessed. “If you’re going to have a big piece of equipment that’s occupying that bench, then maybe, does it make sense to have super-accessible bar post connections right behind it?” she asked.
Case studies in coordination
The presenters illustrated to the Lab Design Conference audience how integrated design can save both time and money through preassembly and off-site construction. Hackman described a project in which Clayco fabricated six-inch utility cores off-site, then delivered them “under clean conditions, increasing safety and speeding up the process.”
Meanwhile, Moore showcased an underground waste collection system designed to reduce manual handling of hazardous materials. “We worked together with our client, and we’ve reduced the manual intervention that could have been happening maybe weekly, maybe even daily,” she explained. “We reduced that down to maybe a preventative maintenance type of thing—maybe once every six months or so.”
Hackman added that such collaboration exemplifies the synergy possible within design-build partnerships. “It’s a great solution working together—synergy between architects, engineers, under the umbrella of a construction company,” he said.
Evaluating and selecting the right system
Toward the end of the session, Hackman and Moore offered practical advice for evaluating casework systems. “Three great ways to evaluate casework in my experience are: go to the showroom, go to the Lab Design Conference and look at their booths…bring clients to job sites, where they can see installations and get lessons learned…[and] write in a mock-up as part of the spec,” Hackman advised.
Moore recommended mapping out utilities directly on lab layouts to ensure alignment across teams. “We use that as a communication tool between our firm, the client, and the different trades or disciplines to make sure that we’re all on the same page about what needs to go where,” she said.
For long-term planning, adaptability remains the most important benchmark. “If you tried to renovate a Class One lab with fixed furniture five years later, it would cost considerably more than just unplugging a Class Seven and moving it down the hall,” Hackman noted. “The cost swing is considerable—from initial cost compared to life cycle cost.”
Looking ahead
In closing, Hackman reflected on how far laboratory design has come—from early industrial and academic labs to today’s highly adaptable, technology-rich environments. “From the 1830s through the Salk years and into today’s amazing designs…the exponential curve of increasing innovation and integration of disciplines is incredible,” he said. “What’s neat about labs is that they require so many disciplines to be involved—from the users to sustainability, to the systems infrastructure and architectural planning.”
For Hackman and Moore, the message was clear: the most successful laboratories are those conceived through genuine integration—where architectural vision and engineering precision unite around a shared understanding of science, space, and adaptability.
“We’re looking forward to the future,” Hackman concluded. “It’s neat that we’re all involved with the lab design industry.”
The dialogue on lab infrastructure and casework innovation continues at the 2026 Lab Design Conference, happening May 11–14 in Orlando, FL! Discover how adaptive reuse and collaborative development are influencing the next generation of lab spaces. Get the latest details on educational sessions, networking events, and our add-on workshops and lab tours at www.labdesignconference.com.
