Why Flexibility is Key to the Future of Speculative Lab Developments
The exterior of 850 PBC in Phoenix, AZ. Image: Bill Timmerman
This article was co-authored by Tom Giuggio, senior lab planner with HKS
Life science and biotech research is being conducted at a faster pace than ever before. New technology and equipment are enabling multidisciplinary researchers and practitioners to convergent thinking that expedites scientific discovery. Coupled with that, the need to bring effective pharmaceuticals and vaccines to market quickly has soared since COVID-19 gripped the world.
These dynamic factors are spurring new venture capital investments and driving up the need for new lab space after pandemic-induced market fluctuations. Demand for labs increased by 6.3 percent nationwide in the first quarter of 2024, according to market research by JLL. In the Bay Area, Boston and San Diego—where research and development clusters are prevalent and growing—demand increased by 29 percent during the same period.
Rapid change on the economic and scientific fronts can be challenging for academic, public, and private research and development entities to navigate. Speculative labs alleviate potential risks and burdens for these institutions, and offer adaptable, innovative built environment solutions for the current era of fast-paced medical and scientific exploration.
Architects and developers are partnering to create speculative labs around the world as life science building ecosystems are evolving. Spec lab developments are often part of innovation clusters, where multiple companies with research initiatives and academic institutions are setting up shop near to one another to cultivate an ethos of shared discovery. As designers and lab planners, we contribute by converting existing buildings and creating new ground-up facilities with shell space and flexible pre-fit labs to suit community needs and a variety of potential tenants ranging from small start-ups to historic academic institutions.
The 2024 Lab Design Conference in Phoenix featured a guided tour of the 850 PBC facility. Image: MaryBeth DiDonna
Building on years of trusted collaboration, our design firm, HKS, and developer partners at Wexford Science and Technology completed a one-of-a-kind building, 850 PBC in Phoenix, AZ, which we believe sets a new standard for speculative lab development. (Editor’s note: The 2024 Lab Design Conference included a tour of 850 PBC.)
From early programming and planning phases, HKS and Wexford partnered with Arizona State University (ASU), the City of Pheonix, and local organizations to envision a building that would serve as a gateway to the Phoenix Bioscience Core (PBC). It would be more than a research facility—it would be a community-based research and clinical destination, a start-up incubator, and a place where people could gather for public events. With a wide variety of purposes, the building is designed to include flexible, adaptable spaces with the highest well-being standards and signature exterior and interior design inspired by local desert plant life and biological sciences.
Upon project completion, the seven-floor building featured three full floors of shell space available for subdivision and leasing, several floors for ASU research, clinical, and conferencing needs, a life science certification training center, space for the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases researchers and clinicians. It also includes a floor that became Connect Labs by Wexford after occupancy, a “ready-now” environment for emerging companies to conduct research and work towards scaling up.
Speculative aspects of 850 PBC are woven throughout the building. The shell space, Connect Labs by Wexford, and ASU labs are all designed for maximum flexibility from a single-floor tenant to ones that require only one bench. They accommodate interdisciplinary research, computational, wet and dry research, and incorporate enhanced utilities capable of supporting heavy power loads and ventilation needs, while also providing a variety of core lab equipment that can adjust and grow as tenants and their needs change.
The lobby of 850 PBC. Image: Bill Timmerman
850 PBC supports academic, professional, and community initiatives and engagement in equal measure. It is designed for world-class research and education, talent recruitment and retention, and community health and enrichment. The first and second floors serve all these goals with welcoming lobbies with diverse seating areas that can flex for large events, space for participant studies, clinical labs, a conference center, and research kitchen and research fitness area.
While designing for adaptability can be expensive, we firmly believe that the investment is worth it in the long run to ensure infrastructure can support shifts over time. At the LEED Gold-certified 850 PBC, occupancy and leasing—which have taken place during pendulating post-pandemic market conditions—played out slightly differently than anticipated by the team, but the building is seeing robust tenancy rates and the flexibility of spaces has played a crucial role in that success.
The building demonstrates that speculative lab buildings can be so much more than blank space. When created through dedicated collaboration among developers, designers, and institutions, a building with speculative lab space can have a strong sense of place and feel rooted in a community, while being flexible for the future of an ever-evolving economic and scientific landscape.
It is flexibility that is key to the future of research, medicine, and technology. When a building includes spaces that accommodate a wide range of people and uses, it can maximize the potential of discovery efforts. The possibilities of scientific and technological research are infinite, and when we partner to create spaces that can be meaningfully and purposefully adapted, we enable a faster path toward unlocking potential widespread benefits for society.
