Labs and Cleanrooms

Lab project? We’re listening.

From chemistry teaching labs to pharmaceutical R&D suites and clinical testing environments, every lab has a story. It starts with understanding how discovery happens. Great lab design begins with listening. By understanding how your teams teach, test, and innovate, we craft spaces to adapt as research, regulations, and technology evolve.

Sound familiar? Here’s some challenges that might hit close to home:

Equipment upgrades that don’t fit the old footprint. New instruments are larger, faster, and smarter — and suddenly your layout, utilities, or casework no longer work.
Repurposing space for new research. Office suites become teaching labs. Teaching labs become R&D. Infrastructure, ventilation, and power must transform in step.
Expanding programs and partnerships. Whether scaling academic research or growing a pharmaceutical pipeline, added lab space must balance flexibility with function.
Creating cross-disciplinary collaboration zones. Faculty, clinicians, and scientists need to share ideas as seamlessly as they share data, without compromising safety or containment.

“We are not an easy client to work with. The constant change of scope makes it hard to keep up. Nevertheless, the team did embed all our changes, without any delays, while maintaining our ambitious timelines. The ease of communication helps this process very much!”

– International Biotechnology Client

Visualization to Align Teams, Fast

Our design process moves quickly from sketches to live, 3D visualizations that help teams see the space before it’s built. These iterative “white-box” models evolve in real time as ideas take shape, allowing scientists, educators, and facilities leaders to react, refine, and align early.

Let’s be honest: scientists are brilliant problem-solvers, but reading architectural plans isn’t always a skill in their toolbox. By translating complex drawings into clear, immersive visuals, everyone can confidently engage in the design process. It’s a faster, more intuitive way to get everyone on the same page — literally.

Services List

Discover how Shive-Hattery’s specialized services can turn your facility into a high performance, future-ready asset:

Process Planning

Facility planning and design
Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) planning & design
Laboratory and cleanroom design
Energy assessments
Vibration-sensitive structures
Containment

Access Planning

Lab cards
Temperature controls
Kitting rooms
Gowning rooms

Wellness Spaces

Adaptive reuse
Collaborative spaces
Lockers
Workspace planning

Mechanical/Electrical Systems

Pressurization
ISO-rated cleanrooms
Emergency power
Building intake and exhaust
Drainage systems
Fire protecting systems
Utility and HVAC design
Mechanical systems (utility and service systems)
Water systems
Waste systems

Systems Validation

Construction administration and oversight
Commissioning
Digital twin modeling

CASE STUDIES

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Supply issues during the Covid-19 pandemic prompted a client to build a new, 40,000-square-foot chip manufacturing lab in the United States Midwest. We designed multiple clean labs built to Class 1 Division 2 standards, ensuring containment and management of contaminants. The facility includes specialized mechanical and plumbing infrastructure to maintain cleanliness and dust-free zones. Shive-Hattery worked in tandem with multiple vendors, coordinating shared files and clash mitigation. We kept the large team in sync and on pace with the aggressive schedule.

– Confidential Client | US Midwest

Quality control was top of mind as Shive-Hattery designed Ajinomoto’s food labs and show kitchens. This full retrofit of an existing building allowed Ajinomoto to work closely with designers to get exactly what they needed for impressive client-facing spaces and back-of-house productivity.

– Ajinomoto | Itasca, IL

Adaptability, collaboration, and optimized workflows offered staff at the Broadlawns Medical Center major facility upgrades. Utilizing Shive-Hattery’s signature user group workshops and 3D modeling with VR, designers optimized the user experience for multiple lab space needs. An open floor plan and modular furniture now allow employees greater sightlines, equipment flexibility, and efficiency.

– Broadlawns Medical Center | Des Moines, IA

Des Moines Area Community College had eight labs, each requiring completely different layouts and storage types. This not only challenged designers but accelerated the growth and flexibility of this educational science building.

– Des Moines Area Community College | Des Monies, IA

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“Shive-Hattery's support and follow through with the entire project has been second to none."

– Anne M. Howsare Boyens, PhD | Provost | DMACC

Innovative Solutions for Complex Challenges

Compliance and Safety First: From cGMP production to academic research, every lab must balance innovation with precision. Our designs meet the highest standards for safety, containment, and contamination control — creating clean, compliant environments where discovery can thrive.

Efficiency and Flexibility: Spaces designed for what's next. Whether scaling up production or shifting research focus, layouts are built to adapt. Systems are right-sized, workflows are optimized, and every square foot works harder to support your evolving goals.

Sustainability and ESG Adherence: Your solutions integrate energy efficiency, sustainable materials, and waste-reduction strategies to align with your ESG goals. We understand your processes can be energy-intensive. We design with that in mind, turning stewardship into strategy.

But resiliency goes beyond sustainability. Critical environments demand continuous uptime and confidence under pressure. Our designs build in system redundancy, adaptable infrastructure, and smart controls to protect operations from power interruptions, equipment failures, and evolving research needs. The result: spaces that perform dependably today and are ready to pivot tomorrow.

Fill out the contact form to start a discussion on your project.