Dream Labs

Many laboratories create esthetic restorations, but some owners and their teams are lucky enough to work in facilities that are as beautiful as the work they create.

Two years ago, it wasn’t like Luke Kahng was running out of space, or that his laboratory—LSK121 Oral Prosthetics—was particularly outdated. But when the office condo space right next to his 10,000-sq-ft facility in Naperville, IL went into foreclosure, he quickly bought it. This was his opportunity, he thought, to expand and build the laboratory of his dreams.

His vision: wide, open spaces…a striking entrance…an inviting employee lounge…top-of-the-line operatory and seminar space…a place technicians would love to work and dental professionals would want to visit.

But after working up potential designs, he realized that even the additional 6,000 square feet of space wasn’t enough to create his vision. “I wanted more space. Did I really need it? No, but without it, the new laboratory wouldn’t have been the one I imagined,” says Kahng. So last year, he went to the other tenant in the building and negotiated to purchase...