Greeting Nova Labs members and friends!
Lots of exciting news to share about our new building and move-in plans. To help keep everyone in the loop about all the developments with NL3 we are going to provide more frequent updates via Slack, email, and web. Thanks for your patience as we’ve been running full speed trying to get things done.
To set expectations for the first few months in our new home — we will be living in a renovation for a while. Construction will be tackled in phases, focusing on the essential items to get us in the door, and then adding and refining as we go (likely in 6-9 months). This approach will allow us to get our equipment moved and programs up and running as quickly as possible. The spaces may be smaller while we continue the build out, they may not be pretty, the sink that should be in the room may be around the corner for awhile, but we will be open for making and soon you will see that it’s all been worth the wait! Our patience will be rewarded with larger, beautiful spaces with new capabilities and tools.
Our Phase 1 work is focused on four critical items:
Separate NL from Sundog (the current tenant that is remaining in part of the building)
Add heating and cooling to the main shop space
Build out the Innovation Center (IC) offices
Tear down some office walls to open up space for Orange Bay
We are finalizing our plans with the architect and looking forward to sharing them at the member meeting on December 9th. We have filed our certificate of occupancy with the City of Fairfax, which is the first step to getting permits. This will enable the build-out to start in late December. We are in the final stages of general contractor and trade selections. Sundog’s cleanup is progressing well, and they have cleared a lot of space in the back area (five dumpsters worth!).
Please be patient as we expect to have a few weeks of phased downtime for each shop. The timing is still changing rapidly, but we will do our best to communicate the move schedule as it develops.
Timeline for the current facilities:
We will need to be fully moved out of 1916 by the end of January.
We have been able to extend the lease for 1930 (the IC building) until the end of February.
The robotics program will move to their new space next door to Jermantown Road at the end of December.
We will start packing and moving at the end of December through mid-January. Keep an eye out for roundups to help. We know the holidays are a busy time and are doing our best to accommodate everyone’s needs. Make sure to get a head start on all your year end making!
How you can help:
We need your financial support. Please see the member campaign information and donate today! If you can’t directly donate, please share the message on social media or see what support your employer may provide. Our member campaign is making great progress, and we just received a huge boost from a local community foundation. We want everyone to feel invested in the future of Nova Labs- even if you can only give a few dollars, we hope you will participate.
We are finalizing our plans with the architect and looking forward to sharing them at the member meeting on December 9th. We have filed our certificate of occupancy with the City of Fairfax, which is the first step to getting permits. This will enable the build-out to start in late December. We are in the final stages of general contractor and trade selections. Sundog’s cleanup is progressing well, and they have cleared a lot of space in dumpsters worth!).ere you can.
To follow along please join the NL3 slack channel or email nl3updates@nova-labs.org.
