When the steep ramp-up of COVID vaccinations begins on April 15, one Bay Area facility will have contributed in initial testing and research efforts. MBC BioLabs at 930 Brittan Ave. in San Carlos has been at the forefront of Coronavirus vaccine-related work in the past year.

But 930 Brittan’s journey began in 2017 when MBH Architects started the initial design phase. The development, which consisted of three warehouses that were renovated and combined into a single facility, now includes a ground-up three-story addition. The design objective was for the space to be colorful but yet functional, meeting day-to-day researcher needs and welcoming potential investors.

The 930 Brittan laboratory was finalizing construction in early 2020, around the time when lockdowns began. Seven Bay Area counties were among the first in the nation to implement a shelter-in-place order, with the entire state following shortly thereafter.

The luxury of time had vanished. Within the first week, MBC BioLabs and Dewey Land Company moved to have the project at 930 Brittan deemed essential. Due to the emphasis on the vaccine and healthcare-related research, construction was permitted to continue and reached completion in August.

Now the laboratory is home to four companies, two of which are nonprofits devoted to developing fast, accurate and budget-friendly COVID-19 tests. In fact, one company was recently awarded a National Institutes of Health Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics grant to continue this important work. Ultimately, MBC BioLabs successfully increased the number of SARS CoV-2 tests from approximately 0.5 million per day to more than 5 million per day.