Innovative Biomedical Research Laboratory Building

SST Planners recently completed the laboratory programming and lab design for the award winning and widely published Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at NIH. Intense interest in this innovative facility is due in part to the integral role the research plays in the preservation of worldwide public health stability. Recent breakthroughs include the development of preliminary AIDS and Ebola trial vaccines.

Natural Light, flexible casework and immediate adjacency to desk areas make this a productive lab. [More about this Project]

Development of a Program of Requirements

SST believes that defining the problem statement is the single most important step towards designing and constructing a successful facility. We believe that a highly communicative, consensus building programming heuristic such as the process developed by William Peņa in his book, "Problem Seeking" is ideal. SST uses this methodology to engage project stakeholders in open communication to establish the goals, collect the facts, uncover the concepts, determine the needs, and ultimately to state the design problem to be accomplished.

This process builds consensus within the Team and seeks input from all of the groups that will have input into a new facility. [More about Programming]

Eliminating Surprises in the Planning Process

SST Planners can provide full motion video or still images early in programming and design process. Items such as material and color selection, location of offices relative to labs, furniture and equipment locations can be visually displayed to enable an informed decision making process.

The computer generated model illustrates casework, equipment, and the general organization of a corporate laboratory. [More about Visualization]

Reference Standards for Design Calibration

SST's large project database is a proprietary tool that augments our methodology. It has been used to help our clients quickly compare their facilities with other peer institutions. SST has been able to provide an objective, insightful perspective on many facets of existing or proposed science buildings. This tool has been used to recalibrate a proposed program, establish space standards and order of magnitude costs for proposed design concepts. It serves as a reality check well before construction begins. SST has provided benchmarking services to a variety of clients such as Eli Lilly, Johns Hopkins, NIH, and MIT.

SST maintains a library of laboratory and vivarium "vital statistics" for use during programming workshops. [More about Benchmarking]

"I implore you, take some interest in those sacred dwellings meaningly described as laboratories." L. Pasteur 1868