Laboratory: Wet

From cortisone to CAT scans, the future of medicine has often arrived first at the Mayo Clinic. The tradition continues today with the fit-up of a new headquarters for regenerative biotherapeutics adjacent to the research center’s Rochester, Minn., campus. The fourth floor of the recently built Discovery Square building, Two Discovery Square, had been earmarked originally for office space, but after COVID hit, the developer offered the opportunity to convert some of the office space to laboratory space. Mayo Clinic had been planning to build a Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics and saw an opportunity to lease the 18,000-sf space at Discovery Square and convert it for this cutting-edge biomanufacturing facility.  

Facing the mandate to grow university research expenditures to $1 billion by 2028, Arizona State University’s (ASU) Research Space Planning group was charged with determining how much lab space would be required to meet that goal and what the cost would be. Under the leadership of senior director Erik Halle, the planning group engaged in a multi-stage process analyzing utilization and cost data, benchmarking, and incorporating user feedback to arrive at the answer.  Introducing new practices like improved lab-to-gross-square-foot ratios and the recovery of underutilized space, among other measures, culminated in meeting the $1 billion target almost three years early without additional construction.

To maximize scientific synergies and encourage innovation, The Sherwin-Williams Company made the decision to combine two of its largest R&D organizations into a new global R&D center in Brecksville, Ohio. The 600,000-sf facility, named the Morikis Global Technology Center, began hosting some 900 Sherwin-Williams employees—including chemists, engineers, technicians, and support teams—upon opening in December 2025. One of the big goals is to take people from disparate business units that have been historically scattered across multiple buildings and bring them together into a space designed to maximize collaboration and spark creativity.

The Ohio State University opened the Multispecies Animal Learning Center (MALC) and a new dairy in Columbus in January of 2026. The $60 million complex was designed by Wellogy as an integrated hub for teaching and research that enables the next generation of animal sciences education. Spanning 100,000 sf, MALC provides the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences with leading-edge classrooms and demonstration areas where students participate in a dynamic pedagogy of experiential engagement.

The ideal lab building can flex over time to accommodate each new generation of researchers, with minimal disruption and infrastructure change. Using an approach called the “resilient chassis,” labs are grouped by typologies and placed around a common spine or “chassis” of mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) systems based on zoning and capacity needs. The best location for each lab is determined by grouping labs together that share specialized requirements, such as vibration sensitivities, noise restrictions, lighting or electrical requirements, and instrumentation needs. 

The University of California, Davis is constructing the Lynda and Steward Resnick Agricultural Innovation Center on its main campus. The $66.4 million facility will enable the exploration of new ways of balancing food production with leading sustainability practices while advancing the global agricultural industry with scalable solutions. Designed by Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign to drive collaboration, the 32,000-sf building will feature diverse and dynamic environments for learning and research. 

The University of Georgia is constructing an education and research facility in Athens as the primary teaching hub for its School of Medicine. Designed by Flad Architects, the 93,000-sf building will dedicate nearly 25,000 sf to open wet labs for biomedical discovery and will feature active-learning classrooms for large and small groups, simulation suites with clinical skills labs, gross anatomy labs, and standardized patient rooms.

The University of Connecticut is constructing a new home for the Elisabeth DeLuca School of Nursing in Storrs. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross and Amenta Emma Architects, the 90,000-gsf building will offer a unified environment to enhance healthcare education and catalyze interdisciplinary research. The $100 million project will support increased enrollment and enable the delivery of innovative pedagogies to drive student success.

Versiti is engaged in a $79 million expansion of the Versiti Blood Research Institute (VBRI) at the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus in Wauwatosa, Wis. Accommodating 125 researchers, the 79,000-sf addition will double research capacity to drive vital discoveries and create breakthrough therapies for patients with conditions such as blood disorders, immune diseases, and cancer. The four-story structure will provide ten laboratory suites, support environments, and core labs that integrate advanced instrumentation. 

The University of North Texas at Dallas celebrated the opening of a $100 million STEM facility in December of 2025 that will expand pathways into healthcare and science for current and future students. Addressing statewide practitioner shortages, the 120,220-sf building is a learning destination for fields such as nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, and optometry, as well as housing programs in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and neuroscience. 

The University of California, Berkeley broke ground in November of 2025 on the Bakar Labs for Energy + Materials to establish beacon for excellence in entrepreneurship. The 146,000-sf facility will provide world-class wet laboratories and collaboration space for research initiatives and up to 75 early-stage companies. Designed by Gensler to ensure flexibility and adaptability through a reconfigurable framework, the five-story structure will house 3D printing studios, offices, and meeting and conference rooms.

Coriell Institute for Medical Research broke ground in October of 2025 on a 92,000-sf life sciences campus in Camden. Created in partnership with NJEDA, the Lewis L. Coriell Medical Research Center will advance the frontiers of biomedical science to catalyze critical breakthroughs in cancer treatment, stem cell technology, epigenetics, and drug discovery. 

In an era of expanding research portfolios and heightened expectations for interdisciplinary collaboration, universities face intensifying pressure to strategically plan, manage, and optimize research space. Research facilities, wet labs, maker spaces, core facilities, and computational suites, represent some of the most limited and costly assets in the academic environment. As competition for high-quality laboratories and specialized rooms grows, institutions are re-evaluating entrenched practices, strengthening policy frameworks, and adopting data-driven systems to ensure that space is allocated efficiently, transparently, and equitably. The most successful universities treat research space not as a static inheritance but as a strategic resource that must evolve with the institution’s mission.

Ancora L&G opened a $165 million life sciences center in October of 2025 in Providence, Rhode Island. Located in the city’s I-95 innovation district, the 212,000-sf building accommodates 80,000 sf of world-class research space owned by and dedicated to the Rhode Island Department of Health.

The University of Pittsburgh is constructing the state-of-the-art BioForge center in the Hazelwood Green development, a brownfield site site that once accommodated a steel mill. Designed by HOK, the $250 million hub will drive breakthroughs and innovations in the manufacturing of precision biological medicines to improve human health. The 185,000-sf building will fill a critical gap in the local biotechnology ecosystem by addressing production constraints and cost-based obstacles to the wide distribution and accessibility of novel treatments.