Albany Medical College, as part of a program to reorganize space and relocate stand-alone functions, reached an agreement with the adjacent Albany Veteran's Administration Hospital to relocate the Cytogenetics Laboratory to vacant laboratory space at the VA.

Hyman Hayes Associates was commissioned to program and design the new laboratory renovation. The existing 1,900-sf laboratory was overcrowded and not able to make efficient use of personnel. For example, when light sensitive experiments were performed in one lab, technicians not involved in the experiments had to leave the area because the lights were turned off. Two main goals of the project were to provide a more efficient and better organized working area and to minimize construction costs by reusing as much of the interior laboratory layout and casework as possible.

As a result, extensive effort went into laying out the 2,655-sf laboratory to meet the needs of the users within the framework of existing laboratory space. The final layout accommodated the needs of the users by providing various special lab areas that were required, including: two wet labs, two microscopy labs, a molecular lab, tissue culture room, microscope and computer rooms, and, because many of the procedures require the technicians to remain nearby, a break room within the lab enclosure.