Lab of Horrors

The strategic organisation and setup of laboratories pose complex challenges. The "Lab of Horrors" workshop, which Roche Diagnostics held for invited customers at the SCDH Living Lab, demonstrated how realistic simulations can help optimise planned laboratory environments.

Roche Diagnostics serves customers from across the healthcare sector – from commercial laboratories and research institutions to hospitals, medical practices and patients – and offers comprehensive advice on laboratory organisation, among other things.

On 18 September 2025, Roche Diagnostics invited customers to an event at the SCDH. The task for workshop participants was to optimise three fictitious laboratory situations – microbiology, sample acceptance and core laboratory. The objectives were to increase efficiency, promote cross-departmental exchange, reduce staffing requirements and increase workplace flexibility and customer satisfaction.

To this end, the three laboratory situations were projected on a 1:1 scale onto the SCDH's extended reality simulation surface, and the participants had the opportunity to test and evaluate different layouts following the simulation. 

The final presentations by the three working groups highlighted both the most significant optimisations compared to the original situation and the most important challenges identified in laboratory planning.