The Goldstein Partnership has designed many leading research and teaching laboratories that span the full range of scientific and engineering disciplines, from biology, chemistry, and physics, to microelectronics, telecommunications, and agriculture. We develop innovative approaches to building organization, laboratory service distribution, and construction technology.

One of our primary design objectives is to satisfy of our clients' building programs in the most economical and efficient structure possible. Through rigorous programming, we identify key organizational parameters. Through detailed analysis of laboratory occupancy schedules, we identify opportunities for shared services and facilities. The results can be impressive: At the Medical College of Wisconsin, for example, the building program we developed was hundreds of thousands of square feet smaller than that which the College anticipated, resulting both in greater functionality and in enormous savings in construction time, construction cost, and building operation.

Another one of our objectives is the safeguarding of laboratory users and their work. To store volatile chemicals within existing buildings, we have created blast-resistant rooms. To protect the integrity of ongoing experiments, we have provided emergency generators and uninterruptible power supplies. To prevent vibrations from affecting laboratory work, we have utilized vibration-isolating materials and systems. To control infectious agents, we have utilized 100% outside air systems. To save energy, we have employed sophisticated heat recovery systems. And to avoid electromagnetic interference, we have designed a building containing no metal at all.

We continue to be at the forefront of efforts to reduce the energy costs associated with laboratory use. At the Muller Technology Center of the Applied Physics Laboratory, for example, we created a separate building solely to house ice-making equipment. At night, when electric rates are low, the equipment creates tons of ice. During the day, when rates are high, chilled water from that building is circulated through the laboratories to cool them. The result has been an enormous reduction in annual energy costs.