Stories
Designed for Emerging Life and Material Science Breakthroughs
Our approach to laboratory design at any scale is evident through our completed work for SciFi Foods and Origin Materials. Although each client had different research space requirements, our process and approach to technical facility design resulted in functional, responsive, and flexible R&D space for their science. SciFi Foods, focuses on life sciences, specifically alternative protein development, and Origin Materials, focuses on material sciences, specifically the development of novel materials that enable decarbonization at scale. Both of RMW’s clients’ values align with our interest in supporting companies that aim to have significant, replicable, and sustainable impacts in the world through their science.
SciFi Foods
SciFi Foods, headquartered in San Leandro, is on a mission to secure regulatory approval and break into the US foodservice market with their cultivated meat—a revolutionary concept that produces real meat from cells, eliminating the need for traditional animal farming. They view this as a solution to the environmental damage caused by the beef industry and the ethical concerns surrounding factory farming. SciFi Foods firmly believes in the power of science and technology to reshape meat production, making it cleaner, more compassionate, and vastly more efficient. With the global population surpassing 8 billion and the looming threat of climate change, they see a pressing need for such innovation. Their initial offering, a burger blending cultivated beef with a unique blend of plant-based ingredients, marks the beginning of their efforts to provide sustainable dining options without harming the planet.
Origin Materials
Origin Materials is the world’s leading carbon-negative materials company. Origin has developed multiple sustainable and performance-enhanced solutions for improving recycling and circularity, including its all-PET caps and closures, as well as low-carbon material solutions for a wide variety of products and applications. Over the past 10 years, Origin has developed a platform for turning the carbon found in biomass into useful materials while capturing carbon in the process. The science has steadily advanced from initial proof of concept to pilot demonstration and beyond. In 2016, Nestlé Waters and Danone formed an alliance with Origin to commercialize the platform’s first product, plant-based PET plastic with a low carbon footprint. PepsiCo joined the NaturALL Bottle Alliance in 2018.
RMW assisted with an office refresh, a lab relocation, and an R&D area expansion at their West Sacramento headquarters. The office refresh included a lobby redesign, and new conference room, café, and open office area. To increase their work capacity, the analytics lab was relocated and enlarged. To expand the R&D area, 26 new hoods and benches were added, and the overall footprint increased by 10x the original size. These projects were carefully phased to allow continual operation of the labs.
Contributors
SciFi Foods:
Stan Lew / Eunice Furuta / Shia Stennis
DPR General, General Contractor
Emily Hagopian, Photographer
Origin Materials:
Stan Lew / Mark Alvarez / Allison English / Kevin Morgan / Gina Clemons
Icon, General Contractor
Garry Belinsky, Photographer