Our team has the experience and technical knowledge to execute the most complex, demanding laboratory projects. Our unique approach combines the design elements with operational excellence, energy efficiency and risk and safety assessment as required to meet your specialty lab needs.

Proven Leadership in Laboratory Needs

We apply our knowledge of state-of-the-art technologies and industry standards to develop optimized layouts and workflows and to renovate and construct hi-tech laboratories and facilities that optimize cost, schedule and technical performance to ensure compliance and performance. Our services include:

• Specialty labs designed, built and commissioned for the chemical, pharmaceutical/biotech, university, food and government sectors
• AAALAC, CDC, CGMP and GLP compliant designs including materials, personnel and product flows
• Incorporation of sustainable design practices into laboratory operations to minimize environmental impact without compromising safety and performance in laboratory operations
• Development of operational excellence and efficiency strategies to help reduce operating costs
• Development of operational and maintenance SOPs and training
• Containment/isolation protection strategies, risk modeling (dispersion, capture velocities, characterization of hazard)
• HAZOP and ATEX
• Experienced in developing guidelines and standards
• Experience in calibration and LIMs
• Qualification of pre-clinical & clinical laboratories
• Decommissioning and relocation solutions

Clinical Laboratories

The clinical laboratory is changing from a place of activity based on sample analysis to an in vitro diagnostic network – encompassing business development, strategic planning, technology transfer, in- and out-licensing - due to technological advances and cost containment. The design of clinical laboratories must also provide appropriate isolation and containment for receiving, processing, testing, storing and disposal of specimens. IPS has a solid understanding of the risks associated with the handling of these types of compounds. This understanding gives us the ability to select the appropriate containment strategy (primary, secondary and tertiary containment levels) incorporated into a fast-track project delivery schedule.

Animal Facilities

IPS understands the special requirements that an animal health and housing environment needs to provide the same high level of care and consistency as all other facilities, including an animal facility designed for containment and personnel protection and safety. Our team is experienced with the many unique issues regarding animal care facilities such as segregation, noise, vibration and odor control that need to be evaluated and incorporated into the design. IPS applies our knowledge of Government and AAALAC certification to ensure all animal laboratory facilities and space environments are in compliance with these regulations.

Containment Laboratories

Containment labs are a special type of lab that provides a highly specialized space for research on materials that are cytotoxic and pose considerable health hazard. The hazard could be from the use of biological agents (bio-hazard), use of hormonal products or could be from use of potent chemicals. The IPS team has extensive experience and the technical knowledge necessary to address the challenges and approaches for the design and construction of containment laboratories. Our integrated approach focused on the technology and focuses on material, product, personnel and waste. We fully understand the complexity of the design, laboratory operational excellence and specialized area architectural and engineering solutions required to meet highly technical needs.

Quality Laboratories

During the manufacturing process, companies take samples of their products in raw material form, in-process form and finished product form. These samples are then sent to quality control laboratories for a series of tests to ensure safety and efficacy. These labs are critical to the QC process and pharmaceutical manufacturing. By studying best practices in manufacturing quality control, companies can better understand how to manage workflow and optimize layouts – including dedicated areas to specifically handle potent and cytotoxic compounds. IPS applies our architectural and engineering know-how, industry trends and incorporates the latest handling schemes to promote safety, quality and efficiency.

Sustainable Design for Laboratories

Laboratories are large consumers of natural resources. The predominant demand is for the movement of conditioned air, and power for the scientific equipment. In addition to providing human comfort, air is also used to create an envelope of protection from hazardous materials used in laboratory operations. As engineers and architects we believe that incorporating sustainable design practices into the facilities is good business. We are committed to the philosophy of sustainable design and understand the impact that our designs have on the environment and the health and comfort of the facilities occupants. We strive to incorporate sustainable design practices into every project to minimize the impact these facilities have on the environment without compromising safety and performance in the lab.

We incorporate sustainable practices into our designs that include:

• Use of green building materials
• Energy efficient equipment and lighting
• Day light harvesting
• Micro-environments
• High-performance fume hoods
• Whole-building commissioning
• “Right Sized” equipment
• LEED® Certification/KFW/BEG
• Variable air volume (VAV) air handling systems
• Variable air volume fume hoods
• Variable frequency drives (VFDs) to reduce energy consumption when loads are reduced
• DDC controls with operating set-backs to reduce energy consumption when labs are not in use
• Heat recovery to reclaim energy where applicable
• Water recycling
• Cogeneration and on-site power generation
• Energy monitoring and control systems