The HOK article, Investing in the Future of Public Health: The New Wave of Lab Construction outlined the importance of updating public health labs to accommodate high-tech equipment and keep pace with the latest in genome sequencing and diagnosing illnesses. Not to mention the importance of ensuring the highest safety and biocontainment standards. According to HOK’s research, lab infrastructure requires urgent modernization and with this demand, they are currently designing three public health facilities. In conversation with David Schwartz, author contributor and AIA, LEED AP, regional leader Science in Technology in New York, he shares his insights for the top design trends they are implementing.
Read below to learn more:
What are lab reconfigurations and how have they evolved?
During COVID, the labs for New York State and others had to start processing samples at a huge number, and it required bringing in new and faster equipment very quickly. Reconfiguring is all about adaptation and ensuring that labs are flexible and able to address issues like outbreaks. Instead of designing labs that become obsolete, we want to be able to pivot to address public health needs as quickly as possible. For instance, we just started collaborating with a state lab that wants to have optimum flexibility because they don’t know the extent of what they’ll be testing in the future. These reconfigurations are optimal for labs that need this adaptability constantly.
It’s fascinating to read about the robotic systems trending public health labs. Can you describe the ways that designers are balancing automation with the floor-mounted equipment described?
The intent for automation when in discussion initially was to reduce the number of staff that were testing for such programs as newborn screening. There was a big discussion about bringing in this equipment and how you can replace people with robots, which of course, was a controversial choice. The benefit of robotics is that it can perform repetitive tasks and doesn’t need a break, however, the issues are that they tend to take up a lot of space and are naturally heavier equipment. By designing labs to be flexible, meaning that instead of having fixed casework, we have tables that can be moved out of the room so you can put a piece of automation in to do the task.
What kinds of tasks does automation equipment perform?
The size of the automation varies greatly. During COVID, there were systems that were pipetting, running tests and doing it on a much larger scale than possible by technicians. They don’t take that much space as you would think because you are dealing with very small samples – but then there are other pieces of automation that you see in factories which require much more footprint. So, it’s a question of making sure that you have sufficient space for the equipment and being able to move benches to accommodate the new needs.
Can you explain the security protocols needed for public health labs and how it plays into the design for these labs?
There’s a guideline produced by the CDC that informs us what virus or pathogen you’re working with and how to safely work with them. Most labs’ biosafety level is two, once you get to more dangerous viruses and pathogens it’s level three, which results in a higher level of security and barriers to contain. Level four is the most extreme and deadly, but there are thankfully only a few facilities out there currently dealing with level four pathogens. Level threes at most public health labs have reference samples to determine if there is a virus or pathogen in the environment. There are procedures that labs need to follow to optimize safety.
How is HOK improving lab sustainability practices?
At HOK, we are working on designing net zero labs and improving the sustainability of labs as a whole. As we know, labs are huge energy consumers, for safety reasons all air is 100% outside and therefore fans run 24/7. So, any chance that we can reduce energy in those labs is a real benefit. At HOK, we utilize a seven-step process to incorporate these improvements. Starting from passive approaches to considering the equipment such as freezers. Newer equipment is much more energy efficient but often equipment is expensive to replace and is often bought from grant funding.
In the HOK article, it mentioned three different design projects that are expected to unveil within the next five years or so. What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on?
I love institutions with a mission. For example, we’ve been working with New York State Public Health, Wadsworth, for about 15 years and we’re finally designing their new labs. They have a great mission, protecting the health of the citizens of New York State, not to mention they do great work in education, public outreach and research as it pertains to public health.
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