“Here is the test
to find whether your mission on earth is
finished. If you're alive, it isn't.” -- Richard Bach (American Writer,
author of 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull', b.1936)
Laboratory Design (http://www.labdesignnews.com/) is worth following for up to date information on trends in lab design. As described in its Web …
Laboratory Design's editorial mission is to provide cutting-edge information on trends and techniques that make these mission-critical buildings more efficient, cost-effective, and functional. Our diverse content, created by experts in the industry, is delivered effectively through Laboratory Design: A concise bi-monthly newsletter covering breaking news, trends, technical articles, new projects, new products, case studies, coming events and more.
Here are excerpts from a couple of recent Laboratory Design articles …
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Modern trends in lab design
Thu, 06/04/2015 - 3:49pm
by Lindsay Hock, Editor
[EXCERPTS]
Each year, many entries are entered into R&D Magazine’s Laboratory of the Year competition; but only a select few win. However, each entry exhibits trends in modern lab design. From flexibility to sustainability to collaboration, these trends showcase the best design options for lab facilities today and the future.
The state of lab design
In the academic environment, the lack of increased funding from federal resources, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF), and state resources has changed the types of environments needed for research. With this change, there’s a greater focus on computational rather than experimental approaches to research, which requires a different type of lab than wet bench science spaces. “While domestically we see the physical research environment changing to cope with the ‘flat-funded’ situation, we have also seen a significant amount of off-shoring of research to countries such as Japan, Ireland and England where investment in experimental research has significantly increased,” says Jeffrey Zynda, Science Practice Leader, Payette. These shifts not only change how, but where research is conducted.
As today’s science is moving at a rapid pace, clients must plan ahead for change from day one. Adapting spaces quickly and easily is a must in the scientific process, and that capacity must be designed into all aspects of a lab. Design features, such as removeable partitions and lab furniture and interchangeable plug-and-play ceiling utility systems, make adapting space easier.
Many research disciplines are seeking a new synergy, where collaboration and interaction between different research groups is promoted to foster technology transfer and knowledge and idea exchange. “This has a bearing on the design of the facility to seek openness within lab settings and provides zones for sharing equipment and spaces that can foster interaction both inside and outside the lab,” says Jones.
With the evolution of science, labs are no longer designed as discrete spaces, but are thought of in terms of the entire process both at the facility level and within each lab itself. “Labs are designed to be flexible enough to support business model changes over time,” says Bryon Sutherly, AIA, Senior Project Architect, Hixson Architecture, Engineering Interiors. “And lab configurations are more standardized and supplemented with lab-specific equipment.” This allows for repurposing and conversion of labs with more ease than in the past.
One of the most prevalent trends in lab design is related to energy consumption within labs. Rather than an “it is what it is” attitude toward energy consumption, there’s a greater awareness about it and an active approach to energy reduction by design leaders in the industry. Interest in planning approaches and equipment that reduce energy use, particularly related to the conditioning and use of outside air, has become widespread among facility owners and end-users.
Collaboration is the key to today’s science. And in today’s labs, research collaboration has expanded from interdisciplinary scientific collaboration between departments to cross-disciplinary research. This encompasses traditional scientific departments, as well as broader research communities involving computer research, public/health policy, business and economics and private industry, according to Cabo.
Research labs are designed to accommodate different types of work within the same lab, as evidenced by fields like biochemistry, biophysics and geochemistry. Academic labs are now interdisciplinary and are rarely designed solely for one discipline. To some extent, the degree that collaborative environments are designed into labs is culturally driven—determined by the specific company culture and the types of work done. But overall, the trend is toward more collaborative and less private space.
Free full text source: http://www.labdesignnews.com/articles/2015/06/modern-trends-lab-design
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Lab of the future trends
Thu, 06/04/2015 - 1:54pm
by Lindsay Hock, Editor
[EXCERPTS]
According to many of the architects surveyed for this trends article, water is a major area of concern and opportunity for labs. Water conservation in labs is rising in importance in light of droughts and water scarcity issues throughout the world. This is especially true in the western and southwestern U.S.
“Labs of the future will be incentivized, or required, to incorporate ‘living machines’ which treat water (black and grey) on site, due to their intensity of water use/dwindling potable reserves,” says Blake Jackson, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Associate, Tsoi/Kobus & Associates. Living machines have been successfully tested and are a resilient solution to issues of water supply and are a means to educate the public through putting science on display.
Other solutions architects surveyed wanted to see more of regarding water conservation are piping RO/DI water from neighboring facilities to flush toilets and urinals and extracting waste heat from utility tunnels below lab sites to generate hot water for labs.
Flexibility was something architects believe will improve in future lab environments. Many claimed they wanted to see more features in labs that allow for adaptability rather than flexibility. And, according to Jeffrey Zynda, Associate Principal, Science Practice Leader, Payette, this is a reaction to the effort and cost to owners that have built-in features intended to provide flexibility, but rarely used.
What does this boil down to? Lab owners and designers should embrace modular features that allow end-users to customize lab furniture, casework and even fixed specialized lab equipment so it can be adapted to user needs in the future.
This isn’t to say the flexibility of systems that support reconfiguration aren’t important. As research needs change, lab infrastructure must be supportive. This option to reconfigure in the future also opens opportunities to collaborate across more disciplines and further multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research.
Flexible design in future labs, and even current labs, can also allow labs to be truly sustainable by minimizing construction required for modification and incorporation of new technologies. “It will be interesting to find the right balance between fixed and flexible, so labs are functional for the science conducted within them,” says Sara Eastman, EwingCole.
In labs of the future the need for natural light and views will live on, as these features help create inspiring places for researchers and students. The more connections researchers have to the outside world, the happier they tend to be in their work environment. While the right amount of natural light is a thin balance between building siting and technology, architects are looking for better and more suitable technologies to assist with allowing natural light into labs.
Free full text source: http://www.labdesignnews.com/articles/2015/06/lab-future-trends
///////
Laboratory Design (http://www.labdesignnews.com/) is worth following for up to date information on trends in lab design. As described in its Web …
Laboratory Design's editorial mission is to provide cutting-edge information on trends and techniques that make these mission-critical buildings more efficient, cost-effective, and functional. Our diverse content, created by experts in the industry, is delivered effectively through Laboratory Design: A concise bi-monthly newsletter covering breaking news, trends, technical articles, new projects, new products, case studies, coming events and more.
Here are excerpts from a couple of recent Laboratory Design articles …
///////
Modern trends in lab design
Thu, 06/04/2015 - 3:49pm
by Lindsay Hock, Editor
[EXCERPTS]
Each year, many entries are entered into R&D Magazine’s Laboratory of the Year competition; but only a select few win. However, each entry exhibits trends in modern lab design. From flexibility to sustainability to collaboration, these trends showcase the best design options for lab facilities today and the future.
The state of lab design
In the academic environment, the lack of increased funding from federal resources, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF), and state resources has changed the types of environments needed for research. With this change, there’s a greater focus on computational rather than experimental approaches to research, which requires a different type of lab than wet bench science spaces. “While domestically we see the physical research environment changing to cope with the ‘flat-funded’ situation, we have also seen a significant amount of off-shoring of research to countries such as Japan, Ireland and England where investment in experimental research has significantly increased,” says Jeffrey Zynda, Science Practice Leader, Payette. These shifts not only change how, but where research is conducted.
As today’s science is moving at a rapid pace, clients must plan ahead for change from day one. Adapting spaces quickly and easily is a must in the scientific process, and that capacity must be designed into all aspects of a lab. Design features, such as removeable partitions and lab furniture and interchangeable plug-and-play ceiling utility systems, make adapting space easier.
Many research disciplines are seeking a new synergy, where collaboration and interaction between different research groups is promoted to foster technology transfer and knowledge and idea exchange. “This has a bearing on the design of the facility to seek openness within lab settings and provides zones for sharing equipment and spaces that can foster interaction both inside and outside the lab,” says Jones.
With the evolution of science, labs are no longer designed as discrete spaces, but are thought of in terms of the entire process both at the facility level and within each lab itself. “Labs are designed to be flexible enough to support business model changes over time,” says Bryon Sutherly, AIA, Senior Project Architect, Hixson Architecture, Engineering Interiors. “And lab configurations are more standardized and supplemented with lab-specific equipment.” This allows for repurposing and conversion of labs with more ease than in the past.
One of the most prevalent trends in lab design is related to energy consumption within labs. Rather than an “it is what it is” attitude toward energy consumption, there’s a greater awareness about it and an active approach to energy reduction by design leaders in the industry. Interest in planning approaches and equipment that reduce energy use, particularly related to the conditioning and use of outside air, has become widespread among facility owners and end-users.
Collaboration is the key to today’s science. And in today’s labs, research collaboration has expanded from interdisciplinary scientific collaboration between departments to cross-disciplinary research. This encompasses traditional scientific departments, as well as broader research communities involving computer research, public/health policy, business and economics and private industry, according to Cabo.
Research labs are designed to accommodate different types of work within the same lab, as evidenced by fields like biochemistry, biophysics and geochemistry. Academic labs are now interdisciplinary and are rarely designed solely for one discipline. To some extent, the degree that collaborative environments are designed into labs is culturally driven—determined by the specific company culture and the types of work done. But overall, the trend is toward more collaborative and less private space.
Free full text source: http://www.labdesignnews.com/articles/2015/06/modern-trends-lab-design
///////
Lab of the future trends
Thu, 06/04/2015 - 1:54pm
by Lindsay Hock, Editor
[EXCERPTS]
According to many of the architects surveyed for this trends article, water is a major area of concern and opportunity for labs. Water conservation in labs is rising in importance in light of droughts and water scarcity issues throughout the world. This is especially true in the western and southwestern U.S.
“Labs of the future will be incentivized, or required, to incorporate ‘living machines’ which treat water (black and grey) on site, due to their intensity of water use/dwindling potable reserves,” says Blake Jackson, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Associate, Tsoi/Kobus & Associates. Living machines have been successfully tested and are a resilient solution to issues of water supply and are a means to educate the public through putting science on display.
Other solutions architects surveyed wanted to see more of regarding water conservation are piping RO/DI water from neighboring facilities to flush toilets and urinals and extracting waste heat from utility tunnels below lab sites to generate hot water for labs.
Flexibility was something architects believe will improve in future lab environments. Many claimed they wanted to see more features in labs that allow for adaptability rather than flexibility. And, according to Jeffrey Zynda, Associate Principal, Science Practice Leader, Payette, this is a reaction to the effort and cost to owners that have built-in features intended to provide flexibility, but rarely used.
What does this boil down to? Lab owners and designers should embrace modular features that allow end-users to customize lab furniture, casework and even fixed specialized lab equipment so it can be adapted to user needs in the future.
This isn’t to say the flexibility of systems that support reconfiguration aren’t important. As research needs change, lab infrastructure must be supportive. This option to reconfigure in the future also opens opportunities to collaborate across more disciplines and further multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research.
Flexible design in future labs, and even current labs, can also allow labs to be truly sustainable by minimizing construction required for modification and incorporation of new technologies. “It will be interesting to find the right balance between fixed and flexible, so labs are functional for the science conducted within them,” says Sara Eastman, EwingCole.
In labs of the future the need for natural light and views will live on, as these features help create inspiring places for researchers and students. The more connections researchers have to the outside world, the happier they tend to be in their work environment. While the right amount of natural light is a thin balance between building siting and technology, architects are looking for better and more suitable technologies to assist with allowing natural light into labs.
Free full text source: http://www.labdesignnews.com/articles/2015/06/lab-future-trends
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