SMART Global Holdings

The renovated space within Research Triangle Park allows Cree LED to establish a brand identity after being acquired by SMART Global Holdings. The new headquarters accommodates 35,000-sf of office space and 55,000-sf of research and development laboratory space.

Previously lab and office operations were spread across five different buildings creating inefficiencies and the need for redundant equipment. The new headquarters co-locates all functions within a single building, improving critical lab adjacencies, flows and efficiencies.

Lab space typologies include the pilot line with an area designed to ISO 7 (Class 10,000) clean room criteria, reliability testing in 95 stability chambers, applications labs with varying size spheres and goniometers, materials suite with powder handling and acid waste management concerns, and characterization suite including SEMs, FIBs, an AFM and XRDs. 

HERA analyzed people, process and waste flows to create an efficient layout with optimal adjacencies, accounting for and accommodating a decade of projected company growth. The design team programmed and test fit equipment and benches to validate an initial program, as well as an equipment survey to catalog more than 700 pieces of equipment, many of which are bespoke.

An important new feature is the tour route that highlight company history, innovations and products while still maintaining the security of the labs and intellectual property.