Countless laboratories exist due to proper laboratory design and planning! We have completed several nationwide labs for pharmaceuticals, cannabis testing, diagnostic research, pathology, forensics, and more. Our clients love the flexibility of our designs and rely on us for our years of experience and expertise.
Our lab design team has created innovative research spaces for over a decade. It has acquired a wealth of knowledge regarding architecture, design, scientific research, codes and regulations, and much more. If you are embarking on your first laboratory design and planning and looking for guidance, you have come to the right place.
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Here are some of the best practices we have developed and relied on to design and build high-quality labs for researchers and educators nationwide.
Key Laboratory Design and Planning Considerations Before You Begin
While there are many factors to consider when designing your lab, a few key considerations apply universally to laboratory planning, whether you need to develop a biology lab design or a cleanroom. These factors are the first ones you should consider and have solutions to before your first stakeholder meeting and should be part of any well-rounded master plan.
If you are designing a computer lab or a clinical lab at a hospital, most future design and construction decisions will rely on these factors, so establishing them early can help prevent confusion or missteps.
Environmental Health and Safety
Even high school science laboratories handle harsh chemicals and toxic fumes, so even if your lab is not handling a volatile virus, environmental health and safety should still be a priority. If control areas are required, note this now—you will need to consider safe perimeters and storage of hazardous materials when finding the perfect space for your lab.
Elements to keep in mind when considering the health and safety features of your lab:
- Type of work being conducted
- Type and number of occupants
- Control areas
- Biosafety levels
Planning Your Lab’s Budget
Determining how much can be spent on the project from the beginning is key to staying on budget. Without a steadfast budget, improper fund allocation can bring even the most well-planned project to a halt.
Stakeholders must be informed of the budget to work within its constraints, so having this information ready before your first stakeholder meeting can help get the project off to a strong start.
Regulatory Codes and Restrictions
Like environmental health and safety, the codes and restrictions you must familiarize yourself with will depend on the type of lab you plan to build. Becoming familiar with the sometimes complex and conflicting federal, state, and local codes before a project begins can help you avoid problems down the line, designing and building following
ordinance standards from the very start.
Sticking closely to regulatory and fire codes can also help you ensure you are building a safe, sustainable environment. Though sometimes difficult to navigate, federal, state, and local codes and ordinances are all designed with the common goal of keeping labs and their surrounding environment safe.
Kick Everything Off with a Stakeholder Meeting
Designing and building a lab of any size or scope requires a lot of forethought, planning, and cooperation. Getting everyone on the same page from the very beginning is key to ensuring everything runs smoothly. Every detail of your project must be meticulously managed since an inch of inaccuracy can impact the productivity and safety of the lab environment.
In this initial meeting, you should ensure every project stakeholder is fully informed of the scope and scale of the project and is prepared to manage their area of expertise. The following stakeholders should be present at all meetings throughout the length of the project:
- Lab Owners
- Designers
- Mechanical Engineers
- Electricians
- Plumbers
- Contractors
- Facility and Maintenance Personnel
As the project progresses, rely on feedback and input from stakeholders to ensure the project is being executed correctly. Hearing concerns over design or furniture choice once everything is complete will simply result in lost time and money, so paying close attention to concerns or questions during the process is vital to staying on budget and avoiding delays.
The type and quantity of stakeholders can vary. A team of contractors and engineers for a stem cell lab will likely be significantly different than those involved in creating a vivarium or molecular biology lab.
Acquire a Comprehensive Equipment List
Building a lab can be expensive, and without proper planning, it is easy to go over budget suddenly. Laboratory equipment like HPLC instruments and mass spectrometers can also significantly deplete a lab budget, as can the specialized benches required to operate these products.
Knowing the types, quantities, and storage requirements of all equipment included in the lab will help you create an accommodating design and budget accordingly.
Size Your Lab Appropriately
It may seem obvious, but you must select a lab layout and physical space sized appropriately for your purposes. Far too often, lab floor plan requirements are underestimated, resulting in over-flow, inadequate storage, and cluttered working conditions.
Though you may feel inclined to try to be economical with space, allowing for ample storage and the possibility of expansion will serve you better in the long run. This step will require participation from lab managers, personnel, and designers to accurately determine just how much space is needed to perform necessary functions efficiently and safely.
Design Around Existing HVAC Systems
Chances are you will not be building an entirely new lab and, therefore, will need to learn to work around the existing HVAC systems. Your team of mechanical engineers will play a vital role during this step. It should work with your design team to coordinate between laboratory fume hoods, biosafety cabinets, snorkel and exhaust hoods, and the facility’s existing HVAC system for proper lab pressurization and fume hood containment.
Leave Room in Your Lab for Reagent and Specimen Storage
Flammable liquids and materials, hazardous chemicals, and harmless everyday items require storage space. Still, one of the most common mistakes we see new lab designers make is forgetting to leave the room. Clear workbenches make for safer working conditions, helping to prevent unsafe chemical contact, fires, and spills.
In industries like molecular diagnostics, cleanrooms, rare diseases, genomics, and radiology, specimens, and instruments can be very sensitive and require high-end cabinetry and storage systems, including modular shelving and movable storage racks.
A beautifully designed lab can quickly become cluttered with equipment and tools without the proper storage. In the case of hazardous chemicals, clutter can pose a serious health risk. In labs handling infectious agents, extra precautions and specialized storage are required to prevent contamination or the
spread of disease within the facility or to the surrounding environment.
Choose Appropriate Laboratory Work Surface Materials
During the construction phase, it is important to choose appropriate lab countertop materials.
Avoid porous surfaces, flooring with large gaps, or materials that may absorb substances. Resistance to abrasions, heat, cleaners, solvents, chemicals, and oil are also important qualities, helping you to ensure spills will not destroy your flooring or walls. Choose floor surfaces that are easy to clean, smooth, and durable; vinyl, linoleum, resin, and rubber are popular laboratory flooring choices due to their resistance to bacteria, water, and chemicals.
Check Door Widths
Large lab furniture may not be able to fit through standard doors, requiring double or expanded doors to maneuver within the laboratory facility. Safe and easy handling of large equipment will help the flow of your lab, requiring you to allow for ample door clearance and space between workstations.
During the construction phase, determine whether the doors in your facility will accommodate the size of your equipment; if not, this is the time to make the necessary alterations.
Select the Right Scientific Furniture
Many first-time lab designers think they can get by with bargain-basement furniture, yet to find out that their workbenches quickly fall apart, their casework was not built to accommodate their work, and their seating is not as comfortable. At OnePointe Solutions, we specialize in designing and manufacturing quality lab furniture custom-built to fit your specifications.
Our furniture is made right here in the U.S. from high-quality materials for long-lasting, high-quality results our customers rely on. Here are some of the many types of lab furniture we offer:
Flexible Lab Casework
Storage and organization are key to the success of any lab, which is why we provide high-quality lab casework to help make the task a little easier. Our team at OnePointe Solutions designs and manufactures metal, stainless steel, wood, and plastic laminate laboratory cabinets designed for easy cleaning, durability, and flexibility.
Our casework is suitable for exposure to harsh chemicals, biological materials, heat, water, and other substances commonly found in a laboratory setting.
Choose from flexible casework options created to accommodate your lab’s growth and changes. Enjoy long-lasting durability from high-quality materials and our SEFA-tested designs. We offer free-standing cabinets, drawers, and cabinets built into workbenches and tables, as well as mounted casework for additional vertical storage.
Biosafety Cabinets and Fume Hoods
Protect the air quality of your facility and maintain safe working conditions for laboratory personnel with biosafety cabinets, fume hoods, and fume snorkels. Prevent personnel exposure to toxic fumes and infectious agents and ensure proper filtration and removal of contaminated air from the lab environment.
If you are developing a plan for a biosafety lab of levels 2, 3, or 4, we can help you plan around those requirements.
Fume hoods and fume snorkels offer additional flexibility in a busy lab environment and help to remove toxic fumes in low-risk situations. Biosafety cabinets used for research regarding high-risk biological agents can be used consistently and allow for the safe handling of under-researched or newly discovered viruses, bacteria, and other infectious agents.
Fume hoods connect directly with your facility’s HVAC system, isolating, removing, and filtering contaminated air before recirculating it through the facility.
Laboratory Workbenches and Tables
Regardless of the lab’s design, lab benches and tables will play an important role. Workbenches provide integral worksurfaces for research, data analysis, testing, and equipment storage, making them one of the single most important pieces of furniture in any lab design.
At OnePointe Solutions, we design durable workbenches and lab tables with tons of optional accessories so our clients can customize as much as they want. Perfect for use in any laboratory setting, our customizable workbenches feature the following surface material options:
Ergonomic Lab Seating
Most lab work is done sitting down, but hours of bending over a microscope or charts can cause serious back pain. Discomfort, pain, and muscle tension from long periods of sitting can reduce workplace morale and productivity.
At OnePointe Solutions, we offer several ergonomic seating options to help create a comfortable, efficient work environment. Choose from ESD, cleanroom, industrial, office, and medical seating in various materials and configurations, or work with us to build a custom lab chair designed to your specifications.
Speak to a Lab Designer for Help with Your Project
Need help with the full design of your lab? We offer 100% free drawings and design consultations.
At OnePointe Solutions, we are dedicated to designing and creating custom laboratory environments to help further research and discovery. We offer lab design services, complete with on-site consultations, 3D drawings, expert advice, and the best industry pricing.
Connect today by calling (866) 612-7312 or completing a contact form online.