Maverick Dental Laboratories Transforms Car Dealership into Spacious, Modern Laboratory

Joseph Fey and Larry Albensi, Co-Owners of Maverick Dental Laboratories in Monroeville, PA, never dreamed of moving their lab into a former car dealership, but as soon as they saw the space, they knew it could be repurposed into an ideal laboratory.

The 16,000-sq-ft facility offered four main areas to accommodate the various functions of the laboratory and provide ample room for future growth: a huge open garage that would be ideal as the main production room; a spacious showroom with floor-to-ceiling windows for the ceramics, quality control and sales/customer service departments; and management offices and a shipping/receiving area that would be used for those same functions.

Although the space was ideal, the building alone cost $2 million and would need significant renovations to make it the streamlined showplace they desired. Before making an offer, the owners invested $12,000 in a two-month architecture and...