Our dynamic thermal simulation enables a data-driven approach which we can use to predict internal temperatures, air flow and occupant comfort in existing offices.

Façades & finishes..Existing office façades and finishes may be unsuitable for more stringent lab conditions.. For most office to lab conversions façades will simply require locking of openable windows and general making good.

However, for Containment Level 3 (or BSL3) labs and above, cleanrooms, environments requiring exceptionally tight tolerances, and other more onerous requirements, façades can be quite problematic.Airtightness is a particular challenge that can make a perfectly adequate office facade ill-suited for lab use, or may result in suppliers unwilling to guarantee lab performance, or disputes during commissioning.In such cases, rather than re-clad the building (which defeats most of the point of a conversion) a possible solution is a ‘box in a box’ lab fit-out, though this will be more expensive and will reduce net usable space..

Furthermore, given how much energy labs consume compared to an office it may be sensible to improve the performance of an older façade, which will, of course, add cost and programme, and there can be other issues around cladding, for example, some systems and materials used in offices are not accepted by life science businesses and insurers for fire safety and loss prevention reasons.. Office finishes are unlikely to be suitable for lab use, and it is almost always best to complete a full strip-out of the office at the start of a project.This will simplify design and construction in the long-run, and will often expose hidden defects or complications (see below.)

Raised access floors will also ideally be sealed or removed to minimise future sources of contamination.

For the lab fit-out itself, appropriate finishes must of course be selected, and this will be based on a wide-range of criteria such as cleaning material compatibility.. 10.Each project is unique, but an ethos and approach prevail: you focus on what you want the project to do, how it should best function and who it should serve –rather than a specific material outcome..

In this sense, Design to Value begins with near-anthropological analysis, delving deep into the various needs of each project’s constituents, from client to planner to end users.Describing the needs of all of the stakeholders in a project leads to a ‘problem statement’.

Unlike a traditional brief, which works to corral a project before it even begins, effectively shutting down possibilities, a problem statement opens them up.The problem statement pinpoints the gap between the existing state and the desired state (of a company, a site, a process) and defines the core values that will drive the project.