SGS Vitrology

What do you need to do to ensure the safety of your biopharmaceuticals and vaccines?

A clean environment for sure! Merit recently delivered a new laboratory for SGS Vitrology in Glasgow to achieve just that!

Merit was Principal Contractor for the design and build of the Phoenix House expansion project, including new laboratories to suit operational requirements with the full design being carried out by our in-house team.

SGS are the worlds driving inspection, verification, testing and certification organisation. They are perceived as the worldwide benchmark for quality and respectability.

We were awarded the project on behalf of SGS Virology in Glasgow following on from the subsequent design phase. The scope of works includes the design and build of new laboratories to suit operational environmental requirements with the full design being carried out by our in-house design team.

The two-storey office building is situated within Clydebank Industrial Estate. The building is a symmetric broad V-shape with a long central span and shorter wings that angle inwards on the front elevation. The elevations consist of facing brick masonry and curtain walling.

The strip-out phase of the works included a full strip out of necessary doors, floors, walls and ceilings along with any necessary electrical, mechanical and structural work to prepare the building for the next phase of the fit-out.

General features of the facility included:

• Laboratories designed to avoid any risk of external environmental contamination
• Physical separation of specific laboratories to minimise the risk of cross contamination
• Air Handling Units to provide filtered air to the facility; this is single pass and not to be recirculated to laboratory areas
• All air extracted from laboratory areas to be HEPA filtered to protect the environment
• Laboratories will include microbiological safety cabinets and PCR hoods to provide enhanced product and operator protection
• Personnel to enter laboratory areas through security access controlled doors to prevent unauthorised access. There will be space for personnel to don laboratory coat and shoe covers before entering the testing laboratories
• Class 2 safety cabinets supplied and commissioned in each laboratory; these cabinets employ a single extract air HEPA filter as chosen by SGS

The construction of the laboratories comprised the following:

• Concrete floors with welded joint sheet vinyl floors and integral 150mm covering
• Laboratory partitions in drywall with Sterisheen paint finish
• Laboratory doors – solid core PVC encapsulated with glass vision panels and automatic drop down seals to help maintain laboratory air pressures
• Doors to be self-closing and able to be opened with minimal effort
• T-bar ceiling system with plastic faced plaster ceiling tiles, silicone sealed in place

All air that is extracted from laboratories is HEPA filtered to eliminate the risk of environmental contamination.

The laboratory pressures have been designed to provide positive room air pressure for product protective environments where operations are carried out in PCR Laminate Air Flow cabinets to avoid cross-contamination risks. Some laboratory pressures have also been designed to provide containment (ADCP Category II) where the lab is at negative air pressure and operations are carried out in Class II biological safety cabinets.

All air that is extracted from laboratories is HEPA filtered to eliminate the risk of environmental contamination.

The laboratory pressures have been designed to provide positive room air pressure for product protective environments where operations are carried out in PCR Laminate Air Flow cabinets to avoid cross-contamination risks. Some laboratory pressures have also been designed to provide containment (ADCP Category II) where the lab is at negative air pressure and operations are carried out in Class II biological safety cabinets.