HGA Develops Expanded R&D Facility for Endocrine Therapeutics
The lab staff in the Crinetics Pharmaceuticals facility in San Diego work toward therapeutic options for people living with endocrine diseases and endocrine-related tumors. All images: Haley Hill
Design firm HGA has partnered with Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutics for endocrine diseases and endocrine-related tumors, for the design and construction of new lab and office spaces within Crinetics’ headquarters in San Diego, CA. The company leased the building in 2022, where it develops therapeutic options for people living with endocrine diseases and endocrine-related tumors.
The 94,230-square-foot facility, two-story facility is located in San Diego’s Sorrento Mesa neighborhood—the upgrade from its former 25,000 square foot facility was needed to accommodate its expanding workforce. The company is aiming to hire 100 new staff in 2024, adding to its current staff of 300.
Phase I was completed in January 2024, with Phase II expected to be completed during the summer.
HGA is working in multiple construction phases on this project, which encompasses 21,000 square feet of new chemistry and biology laboratories. The building will include medical, analytical, and formulation chemistry labs, plus tissue/cell culture, radiochemistry, and mass spectrometry support spaces. This marks a 280 percent increase in lab square footage from its previous location.
The first phase of base tenant was completed in January 2024. Phase II is scheduled for completion in summer 2024 and will position the layout of the offices and R&D facilities to improve collaboration efforts via strategically placed meeting spaces and glazed glass panes.
Collecting input
Before beginning constriction, Crinetics helped identify lab users who could offer feedback on needs and wants for their lab spaces.
“The idea was to identify what's working [and] what's not working within their research, what additional research capacity they need going forward, and to incorporate that into their new space to really integrate their projected research with their facilities,” says Trevor Wells, Science + Technology principal at HGA.
“We use both the top-down and bottom-up technique for input. We really did a lot of deep digging into individual users’ labs. We asked the company for a representative of their laboratory users and went through interviews with those [staff] to find out all their given processes, what they can and can't do, what their projected equipment and automation expectations are over the next five to seven years. And then we also engaged management to get those goals, both financial and personnel, and align those somewhere in the middle,” says Wells.
He stresses that Crinetics was a good partner in gathering feedback from lab users, so that HGA could build a design plan based on what was needed for growth as well as daily operations. “It really came down to targeting their individual research desires, and then using some cross-industry standards to align that with where the current design resides for lab design,” he says.
Office spaces and meeting areas are strategically placed around the lab areas to encourage collaboration and innovation.
Lab and office spaces encourage collaboration
“We'd really like to connect those two spaces in any way we can visually,” says Wells, explaining that the office spaces are situated near the laboratories so that they can view the research happening inside, and so that the boundary between the environmental separation of the laboratory and the office space can create opportunities for collaboration and integration. “We can support both impromptu and scheduled meetings along that boundary between the laboratory space and the office space to take advantage as much of the circulation space as possible,” he says.
A new service elevator dedicated for handling of hazardous materials was installed, directly connected to the shipping and receiving area. Materials are therefore able to move through a dedicated path of travel rather than through general occupancy spaces. Pathways were left for future expansion, such as additional shelf space and modularity with respect to mechanical units. The project also includes the installation of a dedicated HVAC system and advanced controls for the biological and chemical laboratories using a purpose-built design. Control areas will be incorporated into the design to safely manage hazardous materials, and a purpose-built room will house multiple mass spectrometers and a radiochemistry lab for handling radioactive materials.
“Like most laboratories, lab safety is a big deal and environmental safety for the uses of the lab is a big deal. But we're also very sensitive to minimizing the energy use and increasing the sustainability or reducing the carbon footprint of our operations,” Wells says, explaining that right-sizing the mechanical equipment for the laboratory and office spaces, as well as the purpose-built HVAC system, offers control over those environments and a reduction in energy usage for the entire building.
Amenities and socialization areas offer a break from focus work, to refresh and recharge.
Building a community
The facility’s design promotes company culture through unique offerings like a dog run, a pickleball court, and a communal pub. “What I really liked about that is being able to pick up on that corporate culture and bring that into their design,” says Wells of the special amenities, noting that tech companies in particular need ways to recruit and retain their very highly specialized, skilled workforces. “Finding those opportunities with every client is a really important part of design, in order to best utilize the space to encourage development.”
“I can't emphasize enough how great it was working with this client—we were really a team. And I think really successful projects have to have that kind of relationship in order to really get the best solution,” says Wells. “They were a very good team in terms of making decisions, and providing input on a timely basis.”
The cooperation between HGA, Crinetics, and the general contractor was a “collaborative effort,” Wells said. “In order to get the best value, we had a very quick turnaround time on the project in terms of getting them into the building before their lease expired on their old space. And it really took everybody pulling at the same time and kind of having a collective vision about the end goals in order to make that project successful.”
