The conversion of an empty office building outside Dallas into a fully functional 25,000-square-foot anatomical pathology laboratory was a race against time for the design team.
In late 2023, Fulgent Genetics, a national leader in genetics and anatomical pathology testing services, acquired a vacant 96,500-square-foot, two-story commercial office space outside Dallas, and the clock started ticking. The company needed the laboratories to be fully operational by the end of the current building’s lease, without pausing operations even for a day.
Over the next eight months, Fulgent executives teamed with LPA, Birch Construction and Cushman & Wakefield to quickly and efficiently turn the standard suburban office building into a dynamic laboratory and office space that improved workflows and the quality of life for 200 scientists and lab technicians.
“We felt like a team at the end,” says Doreen Ng, Fulgent’s vice president of operations and compliance. “There was a strong sense of collaboration and shared responsibility, where everyone was committed to the project’s success.”
The former call center was converted into a state-of-the art laboratory facility capable of handling and processing 20,000 specimins a day.
On the tight deadline, LPA’s integrated team worked with Fulgent scientists and technicians to transform the former call center into a facility that would meet the company’s rigid standards and established laboratory practices. The new building supports 25,350 square feet of clinical office space, with a pathology testing lab combined with office and coworking spaces. Working within the budget, the diverse groups came together to deliver a facility that promotes the wellness of lab workers and increases collaboration in a flexible, state-of-the art laboratory facility capable of handling and processing 20,000 specimens a day.
“It takes very careful analysis to determine if an existing office building is appropriate for a lab conversion.”
— Teresa Rodriguez, LPA Managing Director
Even with the compressed timeline, the teams spent long hours analyzing the firm’s workflows and habits, looking for opportunities for the new facility to improve efficiency and the work environment.
“LPA brings an extensive amount of experience in building labs like ours, which greatly facilitated the design, permitting and construction process,” Ng says. “We speak a similar language.”
Fulgent’s labs are designed around mobility and flexibility.
THE RACE
Fulgent executives, LPA designers and Cushman & Wakefield brokers researched several options before settling on purchasing the empty building in the Dallas suburb of Coppell. The building was close to DFW airport, and there was a large, open space ideal for a lab. The ground floor had been a parking garage, which offered a beefed-up concrete structure. There was also an existing generator on site and a freight elevator, which helped boost its potential as a conversion.
“It takes a very careful analysis to determine if an existing office building is appropriate for a lab conversion,” says LPA Managing Director Teresa Rodriguez. “Some buildings might look right, but the conversion gets very expensive when you dig deeper.”
Even with the existing infrastructure, Fulgent’s new building would need extensive structural and mechanical work to meet the lab requirements.
“Everything had to be brought in — steel reinforcements, new mechanical systems, major upgrades to electrical and plumbing systems,” says LPA Director of Laboratory Planning Isabel Mandujano. “We really had to stretch the limits of what this building could do.”
Lighting, colors and materials inexpensively create lively, comfortable spaces.
Existing utility connections, electrical loads, ventilation and water hookups all required careful evaluation. The structural systems had to be updated to support new dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS) on the roof. Provisions were needed for handling flammable liquids and the material requirements of the clinical diagnostics operation. To accommodate the heavy volume of shipping and receiving requirements, the building’s existing loading dock would have to be enclosed and reinforced.
To meet the deadline, designers, the Birch Construction team and Fulgent leaders were often evaluating options and making changes on the fly. When an air-handling unit wasn’t going to be available in time, structural and mechanical engineers worked with designers to redo the spaces to accommodate two smaller units that would be available by the deadline. Decisions were made in real time, even as construction started on the new space.
Moving Fulgent’s sophisticated laboratories, with more than 400 instruments and 200 pathologists and technicians, into a 25,000-square-foot space presented more complex challenges. To increase flexibility and foster collaboration across workstations, Fulgent uses a mobile system in its labs, making the placement of plug locations, water access and fenestrations critical.
In a laboratory designed around Lean Six Sigma principles, LPA designers worked with Fulgent lab leaders to improve workflow and efficiencies.
“The functionality of every single inch of this place was being considered because we needed to maximize what we could get out of this space,” says Fulgent Director of Laboratory Operations Shrei Crenshaw.
The new lab is longer and narrower than the previous space, which presented very specific challenges for lab teams designed to run like a Swiss watch. Fulgent embraces Lean Six Sigma to improve efficiency and operations. Every step taken by pathologists and technicians is analyzed and optimized. Designers spent long hours with Fulgent’s project and lab operations teams, studying the daily journey of the specimens and technician workflow and how best to accommodate it within the limitations of the existing floor plate. Ultimately, they were able to shave 3,000 square feet from the previous floor plan.
“There was a lot of back and forth between myself and Isabel,” Crenshaw says. “Luckily she has a lot of lab knowledge, in general, and she knew and understood workflow, which was hugely beneficial.”
More than 400 instruments were relocated in the move.
The entire team came together as the move day drew near. Careful coordination was required for the equipment movers and construction teams.
Even with all the alterations, the project sailed through the permitting process.
“The high quality of LPA’s work minimized changes we needed to make during the permitting process, which was crucial,” Ng says. “Cushman & Wakefield, Birch and LPA played a key role in driving many of these processes with the city.”
Eight months after Fulgent bought the building, the new laboratory space was fully operational. True to the original goal, the lab didn’t lose a single day of operation.
LPA is working on the design of future molecular genetics lab.
A LAB-OFFICE MIX
Fulgent staffers quickly embraced the new facility. All the labs are on the first floor, about half the 48,250-square-foot floor plate, with physician’s offices and laboratory staff support spaces. Most of the supporting staff office space is on the second floor, which is also home to a data center that requires specific structural support. There is also coworking and additional office space on the second floor, where LPA is working with Fulgent on an expansion of the Neuropath lab, fulfillment area and office space.
The design creates “highways of circulation” in the lab, generating a natural flow from receiving the specimens to storage. Every workstation offers views of the local greenbelt, a major improvement from their past facilities. “This is a dream come true for many on the Texas team,” Ng says.
Every step of the operations was analyzed to maximize the potential of each space.
"The functionality of every single inch of this place was being considered because we needed to maximize what we could get out of this space."
— Shrei Crenshaw, Fulgent Director of Laboratory Operations
On the tight budget, smart choices on storage, LVT (Luxury Vinyl Plank) flooring and finishes helped direct money to more pressing needs. Color and wood-look wallcovering and other creatives uses for finishes inexpensively bring environments to life. Throughout the facility, spaces reflect multiple brands affiliated with Fulgent under one roof, with a cohesive design unifying the facility and focus on increasing communication between pathologists and technicians.
“I really appreciate how they have incorporated elements that enhance the design without driving up the costs,” Ng says. “Everybody who walks through this building loves it.”
