LAB2050 Physical Manifestation
What does the lab of the future look like?
That is the fundamental question of an ongoing initiative at SmithGroup. The firm’s Science and Technology practice periodically takes time to examine the new technologies, scientific trends and economics shaping the research landscape. Since 2001, it has sought out knowledge experts from leading research institutions to better understand their expectations for the future, so that SmithGroup can be optimally prepared to provide transformative programming, lab planning and design solutions. In 2015, it began to focus on the Laboratory of the Half Century, or LAB2050.
Building on those studies, SmithGroup’s Science and Technology Advisory Board gathered at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in September 2017 to further the discussion of LAB2050. In an interactive design charrette, the Advisory Board envisioned the physical attributes and characteristics of LAB2050 that could best advance scientific discovery in the coming decades. Together, they explored what LAB2050 might look like, how it might function, and how to plan for a built environment that supports the transformative scientific endeavors of tomorrow.