Keeping heat gains down in summer will help reduce the cooling load of the building, and give the cooling systems a fighting chance of keeping us at a comfortable temperature.

A tight or convoluted lab layout may mean disorganised or congested material and personnel flows, adding time to processes or increasing the risk of mix-ups and cross-contamination.There may be insufficient maintenance space, or a lack of space for collaboration between scientists or analytics and informatics work, which are particularly important in R&D environments and increasingly so with the rise in automation..

Regarding flexibility, science and technology are evolving rapidly, which means new processes, equipment, and requirements.Furthermore, the life science industry is very fast-moving, and businesses are routinely scaling-up or going bust.Flexibility is therefore vital not just for businesses and tenants, but also for developers looking to ensure buildings remain occupied.

In our experience, open plan offices with 7.2m grids and above are best suited to flexible lab conversions as these enable a wide range of bench configurations, larger equipment, subdivision into smaller rooms, as well as compliant installation of future MBSCs (microbiological safety cabinets) and fume cabinets.Some extra space for unexpected changes or new technology introductions will almost certainly be beneficial in the long-run, and consideration should also be given to areas outside the main lab, such as the impact of automation or remote working on write-up and meeting areas.

Rather than cater to all eventualities, a cost-benefit analysis will often drive an ’80:20’ approach towards future flexibility..

While office to lab conversions may seem to make good economic sense, compromises around productivity and flexibility can impact the life science business, tenant, or developer in ways that aren’t immediately obvious.We should use our energies to connect, collaborate, innovate.

If we are truly the dominant species we should and need to demonstrate the fact, through leadership and adaptation of what we do as individuals, but more importantly how we can come together to find expansive solutions to the problems we have caused..In the edited words from a memorable speech: -.

We shall go on to the end,.We shall fight with the power of the sun, winds, atoms and oceans,.