Advanced Science & Technologies

Designing for the Undiscovered

SmithGroupJJR specializes in the planning and design of a variety of science facilities, from life sciences to materials and engineering to energy research. Each day new innovations are emerging and tomorrow's scientific breakthroughs must draw on the successes of the past-systematically building on what has been discovered. Similarly, SmithGroupJJR looks to our eight decades of laboratory planning and design as a foundation to create facilities where new and emerging discoveries will be uncovered. As early as 1965, the firm worked with NASA to design the first lunar receiving lab, and is currently working with Michigan State University on their Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). Designing a first-of-its-kind facility can be a challenge; it requires specialized programming and design tools that facilitate decision-making, generate dialogue between stakeholders and users, and create facilities that evolve with the research. SmithGroupJJR regularly conducts client forums and research programs to investigate emerging technologies and trends and the effects on the laboratory environment. These projects help anticipate scientific needs well into the future, and enable new ways of doing research through architecture.