DLR Group acquires McFarlane to expand lab and tech design

DLR Group has acquired McFarlane Architects, a move aimed at bringing science and technology-focused design capabilities more directly into its architectural services, according to reporting cited from Building Design+Construction. The acquisition is expected to show up first in scheduling for lab and data center projects.

The original report says the deal is less about corporate structure and more about where technical requirements are set early in a project. Those requirements can include power, cooling, vibration, clean construction, and commissioning for complex facilities.

Focus on earlier technical planning

McFarlane is described in the source as a science and technology design firm. The article says that kind of work involves decisions that can become costly once drawings are complete, including adjacencies tied to contamination control, structural stiffness for sensitive equipment, and MEP capacity for future growth.

The source says bringing that capability inside the prime architect can give owners a more direct link between early programming, design development, and commissioning criteria. It also notes that this does not automatically reduce risk, but changes where responsibility sits.

"In lab and mission-critical projects, whoever writes the performance assumptions first usually owns the schedule later."

Data centers and mission-critical work

The article places the acquisition in a market where mission-critical and high-tech facility work is pushing design teams toward tighter integration. It says separate Building Design+Construction reporting this week found that data center volume is reshaping risk allocation across designers and contractors.

According to the source, that shift is especially visible in project delivery choices. For owners using design-build or fast-track schedules, an architect with embedded science and technology expertise can bring more of the technical scope under one roof. The article also says owners should confirm responsibility for performance criteria, basis-of-design assumptions, and pricing for late changes to IT loads or redundancy targets.

Soft billings and staffing pressure

The source also points to Building Design+Construction reporting that architecture firm billings "remained soft" in July, citing the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index. It says softer billings can mean more competition for near-term work and possibly more room on project calendars, but can also indicate that firms are managing staffing tightly.

For enterprise capital programs, the article says this matters most when schedules depend on specialists such as lab planners, electrical designers with mission-critical experience, and commissioning authorities.

"The highest-value due diligence in technical buildings is verifying the handoffs between architecture, MEP, controls, and IT, then writing those boundaries into the contract."

What owners may see next

The report says consolidation moves such as DLR Group’s acquisition are likely to affect front-end project documents first. Owners and operators may face pressure to lock in more decisions earlier, including basis of design, redundancy targets, equipment heat loads, and commissioning scope.

It adds that earlier definition can help when long-lead electrical gear and cooling equipment drive the schedule, because it supports earlier procurement. The source says this would matter most for organizations with repeatable technical programs, including hospital systems expanding lab footprints, manufacturers building R&D capacity, cloud and colocation providers, and universities scaling research space.

The article concludes that in those environments, late design changes often trigger procurement re-bids, controls rewrites, and re-commissioning.

Read the source