From Heavy Manufacturing to Cell Therapy: A Facility Reimagined for Oncology

Not every building gets a second life this different from its first. Our architecture and engineering teams were selected to transform a 42,000-square-foot former heavy manufacturing facility into a state-of-the-art cell therapy production center for oncology. The renovation encompassed the design of a cleanroom suite and all supporting systems, along with laboratories, offices, employee support areas, and warehousing.

The key insight came early. Our team identified the existing high bay space as the ideal location for the cleanroom suite, a decision that shaped the entire design strategy. The high bay allowed for a walkable ceiling above the classified environments, enabling system servicing without disrupting production operations below. An equipment platform was added to strategically position air handling units and other mechanical systems close to their service areas while simultaneously supporting the ceiling structure, ductwork, piping, and conduit feeding the cleanrooms.

Precision Environments Built Inside an Industrial Shell

Cell therapy production demands some of the most tightly controlled environments in all of healthcare manufacturing. Every element of the cleanroom design, from air handling and pressurization to material flow and personnel circulation, was engineered to meet the exacting standards that oncology-grade therapies require. Fitting those environments inside an existing industrial building rather than constructing from the ground up required creative problem-solving at every turn, adapting the bones of one era’s infrastructure to serve the cutting edge of another.

The result is a facility where the architecture works in service of the science. Production spaces, support areas, and building systems are all integrated into a layout that maximizes efficiency while maintaining the environmental controls that this work demands.