For years a significant volume of our engineering service has been in industrial or medical laboratories. Many of our clients and business partners probably don’t realize that we have created our own working laboratory here in Cleveland, Ohio. We’re not developing sticky paper or haircare products, working with mitochondrial DNA or cloning critters. But rather, in our office we installed products from a variety of manufacturers allowing us to implement products that we tend to specify. As staff in the office, we tend to take for granted the fact that we work in a laboratory. Last week we took advantage of our space when we held a client meeting at our office. 
A new client is building an office space in Cleveland. The plan for the office is similar to office, a converted warehouse with high ceilings and some exposed utilities. By holding the meeting here, we could help the client visualize the way the space works, demonstrate a variety of lighting options - direct, indirect and combination direct/indirect, fluorescent; halogen, LED, and Metal Halide; programmable lighting controls and daylight sensing controls - HVAC controls, and sustainable design practices. The client was appreciative of the opportunity to tour our “laboratory” and see how she might incorporate some of these design ideas into her own office showroom. 
It’s important to translate architectural/engineering drawings into reality. I think especially in the early stages of an engineer’s career (and probably similarly for an architect) the opportunity to see how the objects they are drawing are installed and eventually work in a building. The way something is designed on paper can’t always be accomplished in reality, due to a variety of issues including conflicts with other systems. When an engineer can walk around the office to see how something works or is installed, it can only be beneficial in the grand scheme of things. 