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Shared Equipment Zones: The "Town Square" Concept
By transitioning from isolated, individual lab ownership to centralized shared equipment zones, facility planners can drastically reduce capital expenditures, optimize utility distribution, and foster spontaneous scientific collaboration.
Point-of-Use Inventory: Eliminating the Central Stockroom
By transitioning from massive centralized supply rooms to decentralized point of use storage, laboratory architects can drastically reduce inventory hoarding, minimize transit time, and ensure scientists always have the exact materials needed right at the bench.
The Spaghetti Diagram: Mapping Waste in Layouts
By mapping the physical circulation of scientists through a facility, architects can identify severe adjacency failures, minimize unnecessary transit, and optimize casework placement to support high-efficiency scientific workflows.
How Eli Lilly Is Shaping the Design of an Academic Pharma Lab
Designed in close collaboration with Eli Lilly, Lehigh Carbon Community College’s new pharmaceutical training labs incorporate cleanroom simulation, aseptic processing suites, and industry-standard equipment to replicate real manufacturing environments and create a workforce pipeline aligned with modern pharma operations
The Lean Lab: Workflow Optimization Strategies
By applying lean manufacturing principles to laboratory architecture, facility planners can dramatically reduce physical waste, optimize sample routing, and eliminate the excessive daily travel time that drains scientific productivity.
Waste Streams in High-Throughput Screening: Architecting for Bulk Disposal
As high-throughput screening automation drastically accelerates experimental timelines, laboratory infrastructure must evolve to handle the unprecedented volume of solid and liquid waste generated, requiring integrated bulk waste removal systems.
Automated Sample Storage: The "Vending Machine" Wall
As laboratories shift toward high-throughput compound management, the integration of massive automated -80°C freezers requires rigorous structural engineering to accommodate extreme floor loading capacities and ceiling clearances.
Collaborative Robotics (Cobots): Safety & Spacing
As collaborative robots (cobots) break free from traditional safety cages to work directly alongside scientists, laboratory architects must design specialized spatial buffer zones and ergonomic workflows that ensure human-robot collaboration is both efficient and harmless.
Power & Data Density for Liquid Handlers: Architecting for High-Throughput Utilities
As laboratories scale up their automation, the electrical and network infrastructure must evolve to support fleets of power-hungry liquid handlers like Hamiltons and Tecans. Strategic utility planning prevents catastrophic tripped breakers, ensures uninterruptible workflows, and guarantees seamless data transmission.
Optimizing A BSL-2 Lab For Safer, More Complex Applied Research
Lambton College is upgrading its BSL-2 laboratory with $2.47 million in funding to strengthen applied research infrastructure by improving safety, throughput, and efficiency through targeted, equipment-driven upgrades, optimized lab zoning, and early regulatory planning—without major renovations or disruption