In the quest for greater innovation and to attract and retain top talent, the design strategies for science, technology and research buildings have undergone a significant transformation. Organisations are now reimagining their laboratories as the central focus, placing science on display, fostering recognition and collaboration. This approach not only showcases their research to visitors and passers-by, but also forges a connection with the workforce to align with company values and missions.

Traditionally, scientists laboured in isolated, often hidden labs. Today the speed of technological advancements and automation have ushered in an era of collaboration within cross-functional teams. This shift in SciTech working methodology presents novel design challenges, encompassing efficient back-of-house planning, balancing privacy and security with visibility, overall structural design, and material selection, all with the aim of reflecting company culture and ethos.

Our designs prioritise low-level sight lines across campus to encourage colleague recognition, enhancing the collaborative workplace experience while building trust with partners through transparent laboratory spaces. There's a growing move to replicate the ambience of university campus design, creating a collegiate community of scientists who can observe ongoing work and learn from each other. Today’s businesses recognise the benefits of spaces that seamlessly blend the indoor and outdoor, facilitating visual connections between colleagues and partners across external areas and often between different buildings. Conventionally, science buildings featured large, impersonal floor spans, but now science buildings are broken up with areas directly connecting across floors, to the outdoors, the public, and green spaces, fostering a sense of place and providing health benefits to staff.

This vision is further realised through a structural grid featuring maximum floor-to-ceiling heights that provides ample space for visible labs as well as open, expansive areas for meetings and collaboration. Notably, when designing structural solutions for these buildings, we consider flexibility, low carbon solutions, constructability, design repetition, and early adoption of offsite fabrication and Modern Methods of Construction.

In larger SciTech projects, high-tech lab spaces are often formed at the heart of the building, the optimum place to house vibration-sensitive equipment. However, adapting the structural grid can stabilise a SciTech building and offer a different aesthetic. For example, concrete floor slabs with inherent structural damping on a regular column grid achieve good levels of vibration control, whereas an irregular column grid outside these areas can result in dynamic office and collaboration spaces. The strategic use of glazing enhances natural lighting and transparency, with timber mullions softening the environment.

The Net Zero Carbon Lab at John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park has a carefully planned internal layout to maximise efficiency and encourage collaboration

Flexibility is vital. To allow for different structural or architectural interventions as requirements for new discovery changes and as science take centre stage, spatial rearrangement and redistribution of services may be required. Every choice is made with sustainability in mind. For instance, at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, we adopted an optimised structural approach to the superstructure with a fully timber solution for the office area and hybrid timber and concrete frame for the open labs, providing a stage for the ever changing scientific requirements.

To create the most effective cauldron for knowledge sharing, we integrate lab designs with spaces where scientists can collaborate and document their findings. This approach yields a harmonious mix of rationalised structures for modern labs and open, collaborative, unique spaces for social interaction and chance encounter.

The significance of an integrated approach to building design cannot be understated. It forms the foundation for scientific visibility and collaboration offering opportunities for eureka moments, and reflects a company's culture and values.