Joe Gibbons is someone with a unique perspective on the quantum world. A principal at HGA, a US firm rooted in architecture and engineering, Gibbons specializes in science and technology facilities for academic and corporate clients and, as such, finds himself in the vanguard of his profession’s efforts to design quantum research facilities today that will meet the needs of scientists and engineers in the decades to come. Here he talks to Physics World about HGA’s work with the quantum science community and the custom-built laboratories that will open the way to practical applications in quantum computing, quantum communications and quantum metrology.

What does your role involve at HGA?

I’m a principal within HGA’s science and technology market sector. Based in the Boston office, I specialize in the planning and design of laboratory environments to support fundamental and applied research across the physical sciences. It’s a broad-scope remit that covers the design and commissioning of new-build facilities as well as the refurbishment and repurposing of existing buildings.

Why this specialism?

My background is in the fine arts and architecture, though there are parallels between the sciences and the work we do here at HGA. In architecture, for example, there’s always a problem that we’re trying to solve, or a thesis that we’re testing, in the course of the design process. That’s the same whether we’re designing a laboratory or an entire research institute. The secret in every case is to understand the end-user’s requirements for an optimum research environment – both now and in the future.

As an outsider looking in, how do you track emerging research priorities in the physical sciences?

HGA’s science and technology team keeps a close eye on the high-level trends in research funding across government and industry sources. Right now, quantum science represents a significant growth opportunity for us – chiefly because top-tier academic institutions and technology companies are investing heavily in the creation of dedicated quantum facilities to encourage interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research collaboration. Quantum is a race in every sense: a race to attract the best scientific and engineering talent; a race to design and construct new research centres; and a race to retrofit existing laboratory spaces to house quantum science and technology programmes.

That presumably means turnaround is all-important when it comes to the planning, design and construction of quantum science facilities?

Speed of delivery is key from the architect’s perspective, but so too is adaptability. Often universities seek to recruit the best scientists with the promise of a dedicated quantum research centre that is still very much in the works (and possibly several years from completion). In the meantime, of course, those scientists cannot just put their research activities on hold – they need a working laboratory upon arrival so that they can maintain their scientific output while building a new team. Put simply, the architect needs to come up with a transitional pathway and appropriate workarounds in such circumstances.

Does that mean a twin-track approach is often needed?

Correct. A case study in this regard is Matteo Mitrano, an experimental condensed-matter physicist who joined Harvard University in summer 2019. Matteo and his team are investigating the fundamental physics of quantum materials, as well as controlling their nonequilibrium properties with light. Turns out the laboratory space originally allocated to Matteo within the physics department didn’t meet the required performance criteria through existing mechanical systems alone – i.e. in terms of ultralow vibration, temperature and relative humidity stability, or an adequate level of “clean class”.

I was therefore tasked with converting a basement space within the 120-year-old Jefferson Hall building into a quantum-research-ready physics laboratory. The job was basically to start from scratch and put in place all the infrastructure needed for Matteo and his team to be self-sufficient within an existing building (see “Granular thinking is better by design”, below).

What’s more, given that the lab continues to exceed its performance specifications, it now seems likely that what started out as a bridging solution will become a permanent base, with scope for further expansion of the Mitrano team into Harvard’s planned quantum research centre at a later date.

How do you and your HGA colleagues “design for change” to accommodate the evolving needs of quantum researchers?

The process starts with a series of workshops involving the principal investigator (PI) and key research colleagues – essentially a granular requirements-gathering exercise. In the first instance, the goal is to figure out the environmental and infrastructure requirements of the laboratory on day one of operation, whether that’s clean class, vibration and acoustic specifications, or the extent and location of major equipment. Following consensus on baseline requirements, we focus on providing flexibility within design to accommodate a variety of future equipment set-ups requiring minimal or no lab downtime.

We’re always iterating along conflicting coordinates in any case: the “what do you want?” versus “what do you need?” versus “what does it take?” trade-offs. The only certainty is that the answers to these questions will necessarily evolve over time – and sometimes rapidly so in an emerging field like quantum science.

What else can the architect do to ensure the laboratory environment is geared for maximum scientific impact?

At HGA, we are always willing to ditch design based on precedent and subjective paradigm in favour of “out-of-the-box” thinking. That matters because often the things we focus on as architects are never thought of by the scientific end-user. While my main responsibility is designing the laboratory and its physical environment, I find that if I have a voice in the customization of the research equipment – and associated workflows – I can deliver a better project.

As an example, that could mean working directly with the manufacturer of a dilution refrigerator to enhance the system’s vibration isolation and performance. Our engineers can also strip back the laboratory space to its essentials by removing compressors, vacuum pumps and the like to adjacent equipment rooms, while the increasing use of remote control means that scientists no longer need to be in the lab when sensitive measurements or fabrication procedures are under way.

Ultimately, the secret of success is a collective conversation that involves the PI, the design team and the equipment vendors. The end-game: optimized scientific toolsets and workflows aligned versus the laboratory’s long-term research objectives.