A new facility focus occurred in the 1980s paralleling the growth of high tech industries. Every firm in the industry had laboratories in both their hardware and software divisions. These laboratories did not resemble the image of the traditional lab that we carry in our minds. They did not have marble countertops, stainless steel sinks, water spigots, bunson burners and vented hoods. Instead, they had keyboards and monitors and racks of electronic devices with miles of wires and cables connecting them.The character of these places evolved into sophisticated and dedicated workplaces, designed, managed and operated by the young and focused engineers and technical specialists who worked there. These are the labs of today... interoperability labs... testing centers... research facilities. They go by a variety of names, but their most common feature is adaptability. They are in rooms furnished with an often odd and specialized type of furniture that is different from the labs of yesterday, and different from the office or the factory... furniture that must adapt to constant change. FastLab... a new kind of workplace with a new set of needs and solutions.

Planning a FastLab requires new thinking about the space the lab will occupy and whether the planning is reactive or proactive.

Designing a FastLab is becoming increasingly complex because today's labs require intimate interaction of all the elements from furniture to power requirements, data to security concerns.