With a need to expand their existing facility, Midwest Laboratories acquired a nearby property to build additional lab space.  Prochaska & Associates developed plans to maximize the use of the modest, sloping lot, balancing city parking requirements and allowable building area in the general industrial zoning district.  The result was a new two-story lab building with parking for six vehicles inside a walk-out lower-level garage.

The building’s upper floor contains a Micro Lab and a Feed/Food Lab, each flooded with natural light from raised clerestory windows.  The lower floor contains storage, coolers, gas cylinders and mechanical space, connected by an elevator to the laboratories above.  A glass stair enclosure highlights the building’s facade.  A planter at the base of the open stairway can be viewed from the employee break room/testing kitchen above.  Two colors of brick masonry compose the building’s exterior, chosen to complement a neighbor’s existing brick blend.