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Este es el laboratorio donde trabajamos.

Este es el laboratorio donde trabajamos.
This is the laboratory where we work.
From Lesson 211:Continuing actions (seguir)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Este es el laboratorio donde trabajamos.

Why is it Este and not Esto?
Even though "This" is the subject of the sentence and stands alone, we know exactly what it refers to: el laboratorio, which is a masculine noun. Esto is the neuter form, which is only used for abstract ideas, general statements, or objects we haven't identified yet.
Shouldn't Este have an accent mark since it acts as a pronoun here?
It used to! Older grammar rules required writing éste with an accent to show it was a pronoun replacing a noun (meaning "This one") rather than an adjective describing one. However, the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) updated the rules, and these demonstrative pronouns no longer take accent marks.
Why doesn't donde have an accent mark over the 'o'?
You will see dónde with an accent when it is used in a question (like ¿Dónde estás?). In this sentence, donde is not asking a question; it is a relative word connecting "the laboratory" to the action happening there, so no accent is needed.
Since trabajamos can also mean "we worked", how do we know it means "we work" here?
You are right that trabajamos is identical in both the present tense and the preterite (simple past) tense! We know it means "we work" here purely from context: the first verb, es (is), is in the present tense, which sets a present-day timeframe for the whole thought.

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