Hospital clinical laboratories are in a constant state of change.

In response to the accelerating changes in the health-care field, there has been a great deal of attention devoted to creating flexible designs and furnishings in hospital-based clinical laboratories. Even so, the hypothesis that hospital laboratories require a high degree of flexibility has been essentially untested. The aim of this study is to confirm or negate this need for flexible designs and furnishings as well as provide guidance for addressing flexibility in future hospital laboratory constructions and renovations. To explore the nature and rate of change in clinical laboratories, a multi-methodological approach employing both survey research and case study research was used to triangulate conclusions. Findings are organized into three areas: specific activities, technological processes, and the physical environment. The physical environment is further divided into three physical layers: infrastructure systems, space plan, and contents in the laboratory. This research supports the premise of planning and designing clinical laboratory environments that are flexible and versatile to support multiple laboratory applications. The goal of this study is to contribute to a body of knowledge that will help reduce the recurring problem of obsolescence in health-care buildings by understanding the relationship between activities, the technological processes, and the physical environment.