Steven Charlton, managing director at Perkins&Will, says:
“Demand for space from life sciences businesses is rapidly outpacing supply, and with investor interest growing, demand will continue to rise. However, laboratories are complex workspaces with unique requirements and so architects have a crucial role to play in creating spaces that can house future innovators and attract and retain the highly-skilled talent that scientific progress depends on. By putting flexibility at the heart of the design process, we can create places which will meet the needs of both current and future life sciences tenants.”
Jeff Zynda, principal, Science and Technology at Perkins&Will, says:
“The past year has supercharged the life sciences sector, putting a much needed spotlight on the extraordinary innovation happening globally. With science and scientific needs evolving rapidly, we continued to evolve our design approach, always focused on improving environments for discovery and development and the outcomes for our clients. We have collectively moved beyond the concept of flexibility and have embraced the concept of adaptability – considering how buildings can be designed in a way that means you can easily add additional systems or infrastructure when the need arises, while avoiding overdesign and cost for flexibility that will likely be un-used.”
Ed Cordes, principal, Science and Technology at Perkins&Will, says:
“The potential scale of the life sciences real estate market is huge, and while the market is relatively mature in North America, with a number of world-leading science and tech clusters, the UK’s mature markets are relatively confined to the Golden Triangle. It’s exciting to see so many early stage clusters developing across the UK. There is a real opportunity to bring our learnings from, and experience in, the US to encourage the development of appropriate laboratory space in the UK which can drive the growth of the life sciences sector.
