Building the Future on the Foundations of the Past
Breathing New Life Into Legacy Labs
In university campuses across the country, laboratory buildings, like much of the building stock, are aging. Many of these facilities were originally designed for the research needs of the 20th century—or not for research at all—and are now struggling to support today’s advanced technologies, interdisciplinary collaboration and sustainability goals. Rather than tearing them down and starting anew, institutions are increasingly choosing to renovate. In doing so, they’re discovering that these labs still have a lot to offer.
Renovations present an opportunity to reimagine what an existing building can be. At HDR, we take pride in preserving the architectural logic and cultural value of legacy buildings while transforming them into high-performance, future-ready environments for research and learning.
“Buildings ready for a second life are a great opportunity, especially for science and technology because of how far infrastructure has come since they were built,” said Tim Winstead, education and science principal at HDR. “The original logic is still there, waiting to be rediscovered.”
The Logic in the Bones
Many labs constructed in the previous century were designed with a strong internal logic: regular column grids, consistent floor-to-floor heights and a rhythm of windows that align with the building’s structure. While their systems may be outdated, their bones are often sound.
“The building begins to give you cues as to where the program is best located,” Winstead said.
For example, a 20-foot column grid, varying floor heights and the building configuration can inform where to place wet labs, dry labs, classrooms and collaboration spaces. Taller floors are preferred for teaching spaces, allowing more space for teaching A/V and other needs. Upper levels, closer to rooftop mechanical systems, are better suited for infrastructure-intensive research labs.
At Duke University, HDR’s renovation of the Biological Sciences Building follows this logic. The team used the building’s structural grid and floor heights to guide program placement, clustering wet labs near the rooftop mechanical systems and placing classrooms in taller, daylit spaces.
When the building’s inherent logic is respected, the result is a renovation that feels both new and deeply rooted in place.
Undoing Decades of Disjointed Interventions
One of the biggest challenges in renovating labs is dealing with decades of piecemeal upgrades. Over time, labs are modified to meet immediate needs, often without regard for the building’s overall systems. The result is a tangle of abandoned ducts, mismatched piping and unclear infrastructure.
Depending on the condition of the building and the institution’s goals, renovation projects typically fall into one of three categories. Full renovations, where the entire building is vacated and all infrastructure is replaced, offers the most flexibility and long-term value. Partial-floor renovations, where only one or certain levels are updated while others remain occupied, require careful phasing and integration with legacy systems. The most complex are surgical renovations, where a single lab or suite is modernized within an active building. These demand exacting precision and coordination to avoid disrupting adjacent spaces and often involve navigating undocumented infrastructure.
At the Duke Biological Sciences Building, after more than 60 years of isolated renovations, the infrastructure had become so convoluted that further upgrades were no longer feasible. The university opted to completely replace the infrastructure to restore clarity, enabling modern infrastructure integration and setting the stage for a high-performance, future-ready facility.
Regardless of scope, early investigation is critical. Existing drawings often don’t reflect the reality above the ceiling or behind the walls. Site verification, scanning and physical walkthroughs help uncover hidden conditions and reduce surprises during construction.
Innovating Within the Lines
Renovations’ inherent limitations such as shorter floor-to-floor heights, tight floorplates and existing structural grids spark a different type of creativity compared to new construction.
“Constraints help us bring a client to something that I think is a better building,” said Matthew Fickett, managing principal of HDR’s Boston studio. “You don’t get a blank check, so you have to be creative and that often leads to better outcomes.”
A renovation project earlier in Matthew’s career required the creation of an ultra-quiet, vibration-controlled cleanroom for satellite components — all within the footprint of an active loading dock. The team designed a double-walled, acoustically isolated chamber with its own structural slab, threading utilities through flexible, non-conductive connections to maintain performance without disrupting the surrounding building. The exterior envelope couldn’t be altered due to federal oversight, so every design move had to happen within the existing shell.
This kind of precision design, driven by necessity, often leads to more thoughtful, efficient outcomes than new construction. When every inch counts, systems are right-sized, adjacencies are optimized and design decisions are made with purpose
Sustainability by Necessity
Renovations are inherently more sustainable than new construction. They reduce embodied carbon by reusing existing materials and structure. They also encourage operational efficiency.
Working within an existing envelope limits the ability to oversize systems. Instead, it demands smart planning. Existing buildings, specifically from pre-war and mid-century, were typically designed with narrower layouts to maximize natural light and ventilation. Renovating these smaller spaces and resulting conditioning of these smaller spaces for research requires less volume of air to be changed than in a typical newly constructed research building with a larger floorplate. Clustering wet labs in one wing of a building or closer to mechanical systems for example, can minimize inefficiency and complexity in renovations and subsequent operations and maintenance. Dry labs and offices that have lower infrastructure can be placed strategically to simply overall maintenance needs.
“With a renovation, the world forces you to try something more efficient,” Fickett said. “And then the client gets excited about it, because it works.”
Renovations encourage efficiency, especially when projects face tight schedules due to the need to bring research and teaching spaces back online quickly. At North Carolina State University’s Lampe Hall, our renovation requires precise modernization of the upper floors for the school’s psychology department while minimizing disruption to the occupied lower levels. The building itself is a collage of additions and modifications spanning nearly a century, with structural grids and systems that vary from wing to wing.
To navigate this complexity, the project team began with a forensic analysis of the building’s evolution — identifying zones with favorable daylight, column spacing and ceiling heights. This informed a strategic layout that placed large classrooms in open-span areas, testing rooms in acoustically isolated zones and offices along windowed perimeters. This demonstrates how even partial renovations can drive smarter, more efficient execution and outcomes.
Putting People First
Renewed research environments or really all environments HDR designers and planners create are ultimately about people. The most successful projects begin with early, direct engagement with researchers and facilities teams. Scientists often have strong attachments to their labs, even when those spaces no longer serve their needs. Listening closely helps build trust and uncover what matters most—not just in terms of equipment, but in how people work and collaborate.
That connection often extends beyond the lab itself. On many campuses, older buildings carry deep meaning. They’re part of the institutional memory: places where students learned, discoveries were made and careers began. Renovating these spaces allows institutions to honor that history while preparing for the future. For many researchers, staying in a familiar building that has been transformed to support modern science is more appealing than moving into something entirely new.
“We like history. We like knowing where things come from,” Fickett said. “There’s a generational shift happening: people are realizing that shiny and new isn’t always better.”
Facilities teams bring deep knowledge of existing systems and help new infrastructure integrate smoothly. When they’re involved early, they become active collaborators in the process.
A Strategy for the Future
As universities face growing pressure to modernize research facilities, reduce carbon footprints and make the most of limited budgets, renovations offer a compelling path forward. It’s not always easy, but when done right, it can be transformative.
These buildings were built to last. With the right approach, they can serve the next generation of science just as well as they served the last.
