Mackenzie has introduced a new laboratory planning and design practice focused on supporting clients with complex research and technical facility needs. The initiative is being led by Genie Filipowicz, who joins the firm as senior laboratory planner and brings nearly 40 years of experience in laboratory planning.
The new practice is structured to expand Mackenzie’s capabilities in specialized lab programming, planning, and design. According to the firm, it will serve a broad mix of environments, including research, education, healthcare, public safety, and advanced technology settings. By concentrating these services within a dedicated practice, Mackenzie aims to provide more comprehensive support for organizations that rely on highly technical and compliant laboratory spaces.
Filipowicz has worked across multiple sectors throughout a long career in the laboratory field, with experience serving private, public, and federal clients. Her background spans the entire project lifecycle, from early-stage visioning and programming through detailed design and implementation. That range of experience is expected to help align laboratory layouts and technical requirements with institutional objectives and operational needs.
Principal Alison Hoagland described Filipowicz as bringing a blend of technical lab planning expertise and strategic thinking to the firm. Mackenzie views the new practice as a way to broaden the scope of support it can offer to organizations engaged in research, innovation, and discovery. The firm expects the expanded capabilities to help clients translate high-level program goals into functional laboratory environments that can accommodate evolving scientific and educational uses.
The new laboratory planning and design practice also reflects Mackenzie’s focus on environments where safety, flexibility, and specialized infrastructure are central to project success. By integrating programming, planning, and design within a coordinated practice, the firm is positioning its team to address the distinct requirements of laboratories serving healthcare, public safety, and advanced technology missions, as well as academic and other research-driven institutions.
Filipowicz’s leadership role signals a commitment to delivering lab projects that are informed by decades of hands-on experience across different client types and facility models. With this addition, Mackenzie is seeking to provide clients with a deeper bench of laboratory-specific expertise, from conceptual planning phases through the detailed design work required to bring highly technical spaces into operation.
