Research activities utilise and depend on interlocking infrastructures – tools, standards, protocols, and other systems and structures at local, national, and international scales that enable researchers to collaborate, analyze and share data and software, and discuss their research findings. Despite growing policy momentum towards open science, a significant challenge persists: a substantial portion of research infrastructure remains inherently closed or restrictive. This lack of openness undermines transparency, limits reproducibility, and constrains researchers’ ability to fully engage with open methodologies. In this paper, we examine how research infrastructures can be engineered to embed open principles throughout their design and operation, borrowing elements from Manufacturing Principles. We propose an open-by-design reference framework for infrastructure builders and guidance for enabling, making visible, and incentivizing specific elements of “openness” within research infrastructures that are prerequisites for a thriving research and knowledge ecosystem.