Recently Adam became involved as a project leader in the development of early stage design concepts and business case alignment for the Front End Factory initiative with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), utilising advanced digital tools and off-site manufactured components for GSK’s portfolio of global capital projects.

This can be due to structural grids or the general proportions of the available space, among other things.A tight or convoluted lab layout may mean disorganised or congested material and personnel flows, adding time to processes or increasing the risk of mix-ups and cross-contamination.

There may be insufficient maintenance space, or a lack of space for collaboration between scientists or analytics and informatics work, which are particularly important in R&D environments and increasingly so with the rise in automation..Regarding flexibility, science and technology are evolving rapidly, which means new processes, equipment, and requirements.Furthermore, the life science industry is very fast-moving, and businesses are routinely scaling-up or going bust.

Flexibility is therefore vital not just for businesses and tenants, but also for developers looking to ensure buildings remain occupied.In our experience, open plan offices with 7.2m grids and above are best suited to flexible lab conversions as these enable a wide range of bench configurations, larger equipment, subdivision into smaller rooms, as well as compliant installation of future MBSCs (microbiological safety cabinets) and fume cabinets.

Some extra space for unexpected changes or new technology introductions will almost certainly be beneficial in the long-run, and consideration should also be given to areas outside the main lab, such as the impact of automation or remote working on write-up and meeting areas.

Rather than cater to all eventualities, a cost-benefit analysis will often drive an ’80:20’ approach towards future flexibility..These ideas are part of leadership but I believe leadership needs to go further than influence.

The ambition needs to link the influence with the capability and energy to deliver..When my son was in Junior school as part of a project, we did a historic walk around my hometown, Newbury.

I remember vividly reading about a workshop, just behind the Methodist Church, which during the Second World War was used to make components for the eponymous Spitfire.Just a small reminder of the scale and organisation required to help us defeat what seemed an unbeatable enemy.