Laboratory Planning and Design

HCW Biologics needed to grow its operation and turned to SSOE to scale up. The client is transitioning from research and development to clinical trials for oncological and age-related medicine. With our Design-Build partner BE&K, SSOE provided full-service programming and planning, architecture, and engineering for the renovation of a 40,000 SF existing office, and warehouse space to be repurposed as laboratories, cGMP production spaces, warehouse, and support spaces.

Through workshops and collaboration with the scientific staff, our team generated a flexible and adaptable research laboratory. We worked with the client to develop their new production facility and guided the client through the development of their manufacturing procedures and established a Quality Assurance / Quality Control process.

Because the pharmaceutical industry is repatriating the drug manufacturing process, SSOE understood the client’s need to fast-track this project. Our national lab planner worked with HCW Biologics to ensure we were not repeating their smaller-scale configuration. Instead, we listened to the client to know what did and did not work in their limited operation to provide a more successful spatial arrangement in the designs for the larger operation.

SSOE designed spaces for specialty research labs including bioreactor, process, and microbiology, in addition to tissue culture and research laboratories. The new 5,000 SF cGMP cleanroom environment includes ISO 7 production labs and an ISO 6 sterile filling suite.

Finally, the project also included the addition of a new 1,000 SF vivarium space that is supplemental to animal holding including procedure rooms, isolation, and support spaces to facilitate vivarium operations. SSOE provided programming, planning, architecture, interior design, fire alarm, fire protection, technology, and structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and process engineering for the project. Construction will be completed in March 2024.