From Programming to Punch List: Designing Labs That Work

A successful laboratory is not simply a space that meets its program on opening day. It must remain safe, understandable, supportable, adaptable, and financially sustainable long after the designers and contractors have left.

This interactive workshop pairs two perspectives:

• The design perspective—how architects and lab planners translate research, teaching, operational, safety, flexibility, and organizational goals into a physical environment.
• The operational perspective—what happens once researchers, students, faculty, technicians, facilities staff, EH&S personnel, vendors, deliveries, maintenance teams, budgets, and daily operations begin interacting with the finished space.

Participants will work through the complete lifecycle of a laboratory design project—from initial programming through occupancy—identifying decisions that have long-term operational consequences and learning practical strategies to avoid common pitfalls.

Drawing from real project experiences and lessons learned from recently completed laboratory projects across academic and research settings, attendees will collaborate to build a comprehensive best practices checklist they can immediately apply to future projects.

Learning objectives:
1 Identify programming and design decisions that significantly affect long-term laboratory operations and performance.
2 Recognize common disconnects between design intent and day-to-day laboratory operations, maintenance, and facility management.
3 Develop strategies for engaging researchers, faculty, technicians, EH&S, facilities staff, and other operational stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.
4 Apply practical post-occupancy strategies to improve commissioning, move-in, ongoing operations, and long-term laboratory performance.