However, value is actually much more than that.
There are of course caveats, and there may be other Planning or legal conditions to consider or parties to notify.An office to lab conversion also cannot be detrimental to the amenity of residential areas (e.g.
noise, vibration, fumes), and this may still require demonstration via CFD or noise modelling.Appointment of a Planning Consultant and application for a Certificate of Lawfulness is often advisable..Furthermore, new external chillers, AHUs (air-handling units), stacks and fans, louvres, waste stores, external access, and other material changes to the office building may still result in the need for Planning Permission.
This can add many unexpected weeks or even months to a project and introduces an element of risk.In the fast-moving life science industry this is particularly frustrating and removes much of the benefit of converting an office in the first place.
The faster a lab can be designed, the faster these issues can be assessed and potentially mitigated.. Planning and other permitting matters will of course differ significantly outside the UK and a different approach will also be necessary.. 7.
Existing offices may lack sufficient common areas or can pose problems for lab material and personnel flows throughout the wider building.. Office elevators sometimes aren’t big enough to transport larger lab equipment (e.g.It’s a way in which a client can express their perceived need.
Given that the brief charts the course for the remainder of the project it is critical that it is a well-articulated leading document.An architect’s inability to spend time developing the brief – and in many cases being cast as simply ‘another consultant’ rather than an enabler and driver of a process – means that the most critical part of a project might simply follow the flow of least resistance.
Significantly, depending on the project, the sequencing of the steps will vary.The core components are:.
(Editor: Space-Saving Tripods)