Elephants in the Lab: Part I

The UK life sciences market is strong. But there are elephants in the lab.

This can be bad for a project’s sustainability performance. This is because it can take a long time to find out who the end user of the building will be. Sometimes we, as engineers, won’t find out until we are already done with design.

When we don’t know who the end users are, there is pressure to design for every user. This one-size-fits-all approach can lead to over-specification. This approach can cost our clients’ money. It can also incentivise high-carbon approaches such as concrete and building new.

The pros of building in urban areas are widely known. Amenities, nightlife, desirable location, transport etc. But planning requirements are becoming more ambitious, especially in London. The M&S Marble Arch case has generated great awareness on the issue and made developers rethink demolition proposals. Meanwhile, requirements are entering policy and the industry has upskilled.

Looking at planning requirements across the ‘Golden Triangle’, they are becoming more stringent in London. Many London boroughs now require Whole Life Carbon assessments as part of more stringent planning requirements.

This means in London, we have three typical schemes: light refurb, heavy retrofit and new build. When we consider this with Elephant #1 — the market’s speculative nature incentivising over-specification — it’s clear this is something we all need to plan for.

Three major trends are happening across the wider construction industry: 

1. Retrofit-first
2. Low-carbon materials 
3. Lean, demountable design
   

These trends are becoming mainstream in other sectors (e.g. workspace, retail) and in almost every other building type.

The life sciences sector is behind. It must catch up.