Collaborative by design

Science Article

The PHS building's fifth-floor open labs reflect optimal use of space, collaborative nature of the science

Graduate research assistant Bree Mitchell and Drs. Tim King and Paul Lampe stand in one of the new PHS building's open laboratories — a design that facilitates the sharing of space and ideas. Photo by Todd McNaught

From benches covered with equipment to shelves lined with bottles of solutions, the fifth-floor laboratories in the new Public Health Sciences Division building look like a typical research environment. Yet the newly built labs differ from any others at the center by one notable feature: most lack walls to divide one investigator's research space from another.

In Basic Sciences and Human Biology division laboratories, investigators lay claim to their own four walls. In contrast, an individual lab in the PHS open-lab design is designated by a specified number of consecutive lab-bench modules, with three to five investigators' labs occupying each open lab along the perimeter of the fifth floor. This novel choice of lab architecture reflects the very nature of PHS science, said Dr. John Potter, division director.

"We discussed open labs and visited several during the planning period," he said. "We knew it had worked well for other institutions and became convinced that it would work for PHS. It provides flexibility for growth and change and facilitates interaction between labs and across disciplines — all key elements in the way in which population-science research works here at the center."

Human Biology and Basic Sciences research labs are designed to house five lab-bench modules. Faculty members increase their use of this bench space as they work their way up from assistant to full member, said Dr. Denise Galloway, Human Biology Division investigator and head of the Cancer Biology Program.

"But some people in PHS didn't have the need for a five-module lab space since part of their work involves field studies," she said. "The open-lab design gives a lot more flexibility. The open labs also stimulate interactions between members of different labs, not only providing help with technical issues, but fostering new ideas."

In some respects, the open-lab concept reflects the distinctly collaborative nature of the PHS approach to research. Population and lab scientists often work together to evaluate methods of early cancer detection, understand disease causation and study both cancer prevention and disease outcome.

"We interacted a great deal before, and we are hoping that the new design will foster more interactions," said Dr. Paul Lampe, PHS investigator. "We think the design will be especially good for investigators with smaller lab groups, giving them a larger group to interact with."

He and Galloway took the lead in working with architects to adapt the open-lab concept to the PHS labs.

"When the building was designed, we knew up front that because of structural constraints and height restrictions, the research labs would be best positioned on the fifth floor, with office space for the lab group faculty on the west and north ends," Lampe said.

Labs span perimeter

Working within constraints of the building design, Lampe and Galloway planned to have the laboratory bench space span the perimeter of the floor, with equipment rooms and space for shared procedures in the middle.

"We allocated as much daylight as possible for the labs, having them go all the way around the outside of the building," Lampe said. "The shared space in the middle is mostly delegated to darkrooms, coldrooms, tissue-culture rooms, noisier equipment, and also for areas where you do the procedure and leave, so we don't waste windows on that space."

Dr. Beatrice Knudsen, whose laboratory is working to identify individuals at risk for cancer progression, had worked in an open lab before her arrival at the center. She found that the design fostered greater interaction both scientifically and socially.

"The open-lab design promotes interaction among postdocs and students from different labs and the exchange of technologies and ideas," she said. "We interact a lot with the pathology core, and we are closer to the core now than in our previous location, which facilitates interaction."

Interaction with more people sharing a common space, however, led to some unforeseen disadvantages, especially for investigators working with sensitive specimens. Working in a laboratory with colleagues whose samples range from bacterial to human in origin, Dr. Jeannette Bigler, manager of the Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory, found that invisible airborne particles from her neighbors' experiments could potentially lead to increased risk of accidental contamination of her own laboratory's precious specimens.

"We work with samples from people, which are costly to collect and for the most part irreplaceable," Bigler said. "If they happen to become contaminated, it could have a huge impact on a particular study. Before, we had our own four walls and could introduce rules to avoid contamination."

To solve the problem, Bigler converted some of the shared space in the middle of the floor to a tightly regulated space where her group can set up more sensitive experiments.

More people sharing space can also equate to more noise. The building designers anticipated this problem by providing offices in suites isolated from the labs; a fellows room stocked with computers provides laboratory personnel with a place of quiet escape. The PHS building also has the advantage of a spectacular view, which investigators can enjoy during breaks on a rooftop lounge overlooking Lake Union.

Room for recruitment

In addition to encouraging more collaboration, the need to use space optimally became a driving force behind the open-lab concept. Laboratories needing more space can now more easily expand, and the division can continue to recruit new faculty. Portions of the floor's central area remain unfinished, allowing new investigators to customize the space to suit their own particular needs.

"We were crammed to the gills before, and we now can recruit new faculty," Lampe said. "The PHS labs group has recently added Drs. Laura Beretta and Samir Hanash, and will approximately double the original group to a total of eight to 10 new faculty over the next few years. For construction issues, the open-lab design should represent cost savings, particularly related to remodeling for changing needs related to promotion and program expansion and contraction. Since laboratory scientists in PHS have varied need for laboratory space, a lot of money would have to be spent on changing walls to create individual labs for new faculty."

Interstitial accomodation

One key reason the labs were allocated to the top floor was the need for interstitial space, about seven feet of additional space above the labs that houses ducts, electrical wires and plumbing. Having the labs on any other floor would essentially translate into loss of two floors. With the current design, maintenance can be performed with relative ease. Repair crews can simply take an elevator to the interstitial floor rather than having to take apart the ceiling.

Further advantages to the open-lab design include promoting positive interactions, "especially in bouncing off ideas or troubleshooting ideas, and sharing some equipment and reagents," said Dr. Irena King, manager of the Biomarker Laboratory. "In addition to sharing ideas, most general equipment is shared by the labs. All laboratories are responsible for the maintenance of these pieces of equipment, thereby decreasing operating costs and benefiting all fifth-floor investigators.

"We have more interactions than before because we are situated right in the middle, and so we can have interactions with laboratories on both sides of us," King said. "The open lab has worked out better than we thought."

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