Open ceiling lab design, with exposed plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and fire protection systems are hot right now throughout the greater Boston building community.

Our experience suggests this is a design trend recently utilized on a growing number of lab, office, and higher education facilities throughout the city. Keeping added coordination and planning in mind, Siena believes this is a beneficial and achievable goal with a number of positive applications.

Over the last two years, two of Siena’s largest projects have utilized open ceiling designs, in both lab and office settings:

  • Entrada Therapeutics – 80,000 sf lab and office renovation at the Innovation and Design Building in Boston’s Seaport, with open lab ceilings
  • Cambridge Biotech Firm – 50,000 sf lab and office renovation in CambridgeSide complex, with open office ceilings

Key Components to Creating an Open Ceiling in a Lab

  • Early Design Communication on placement of Major MEP Systems & Plumbing
  • Proper Time for 3D Coordination Prior to Procurement
  • Buyout buy-in of subcontractors to coordinate / install “Neat” & organized systems
  • Collaboration / alignment of goals and expectations between Design Team and General Contractor
  • Early coordination with casework vendor

Beyond aesthetics, exposed lab ceilings provide practical benefits for owners and end users, such as ease of access to utilities for facilities teams.

We also see an added educational benefit when applied to higher education facilities: open ceiling labs can aid student scientists as they become familiarized with details and specifications of lab systems.

When Siena builds a lab with an exposed ceiling, we use our most-trusted subcontractors who put the design intent of exposed and orderly ceilings at the forefront. Every coordination and field decision has the end-goal in mind: creating an airy, open, and stunning lab space for end users.

So here’s to opening up to this ongoing design trend. Onward (and upward)!