The rapid expansion of the life science industry and the growing demand for laboratory space—combined with post-Covid shifts in office use—has triggered a new wave of adaptive reuse: office-to-lab conversions. Transforming underused office stock into in-demand laboratory space is a logical and sustainable solution for landlords, but it brings its own set of challenges. Most buildings suitable for conversion are older and were never designed with scientific work in mind, adding another layer of complexity.
Working with the building you inherit
The core challenge in any conversion is working intelligently with the existing structure. Laboratory designers must craft spaces that support scientific work while respecting—and often contending with—the building’s constraints. In this article, I’ll outline some of the most common issues I’ve encountered and how awkward, inherited spaces can be reshaped into functional research environments.
