The complexity of design in today’s university laboratories requires an innovative project approach. The design team for the new Microbial Sciences Building at the University of Wisconsin – Madison faced a challenging interdisciplinary collaboration: three departments planned to share lab space in a single building. This visionary concept in academia demanded an all-new project approach from the design teams at CO Architects, Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP (PRA), and lab consultant Earl Walls Associates. The project consolidates and enables UW-Madison’s multidisciplinary program in Microbial Sciences.