The other reason Lab ships might look like that

[CordwainerFish]

I'm trying to recall what the gravity was supposed to be inside the main module. According to what I can find, the portion of the ship with the carousel is about 12m in diameter, and was supposed to rotate at 5 RPM

Which comes to about 1/6 g.

 

[phavoc]

Which comes to about 1/6 g.

Thats not optimal, but helpful for longer voyages.

The RPM would still be a problem, but possibly treatable with drugs. I dont know enough about the biology or pharmacology to know if you could treat it on a semi-permanent basis without causing other problems.

And im sure there would be those who dont respond well at all, like people who are sea sick no matter what they take. I went on a deep sea fishing trip with big swells, took my dramamine but still got sick. There were these old bastards on the back deck having a grand ol time as the wind blew the diesel fumes back on them. None of the were affected teddy while I fed the fish my breakfast a few times.

 

[Condottiere]

Outside of spacestations, it might be a concept that has to be let go for spacecraft.

 

[rinku]

Given the grew were picked astronauts, I'm good with those particular guys plus meds being enough to cope, even if this isn't a setup that would work for most.

It's also just possible that the spin gravity was there not primarily for the awake crew, but because the hibernation units needed (or worked better in) gravity.

Gravity pods at the end of rotating booms might be the best option. Especially if the booms are fixed and the whole ship is spun, since that's mechanically simpler.