Your recent article on laboratory design describes a number of highly visible trends in the world of lab architecture.1 The openness and light you emphasize in these buildings is important, but there are other critical issues in lab design today. Here are some we've found that must be considered: How can the buildings of a great research community help meet its daily needs and fit its way of life? As you suggest in your article, labs and science campuses devoted to the highest levels of research should be thought of as small cities, where activities span from lab bench to coffee klatch. In them, broad ranges of interaction from individual focus to large-team communication are set in relation to each other. But how should lab spaces and facilities be planned to accommodate this complexity and support the social relationships that go with it?
Scientific research tends to demand lab benches ...
