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Airtightness is a particular challenge that can make a perfectly adequate office facade ill-suited for lab use, or may result in suppliers unwilling to guarantee lab performance, or disputes during commissioning.In such cases, rather than re-clad the building (which defeats most of the point of a conversion) a possible solution is a ‘box in a box’ lab fit-out, though this will be more expensive and will reduce net usable space..
Furthermore, given how much energy labs consume compared to an office it may be sensible to improve the performance of an older façade, which will, of course, add cost and programme, and there can be other issues around cladding, for example, some systems and materials used in offices are not accepted by life science businesses and insurers for fire safety and loss prevention reasons.. Office finishes are unlikely to be suitable for lab use, and it is almost always best to complete a full strip-out of the office at the start of a project.This will simplify design and construction in the long-run, and will often expose hidden defects or complications (see below.)Raised access floors will also ideally be sealed or removed to minimise future sources of contamination.
For the lab fit-out itself, appropriate finishes must of course be selected, and this will be based on a wide-range of criteria such as cleaning material compatibility.. 10.Defects.. Hidden defects in existing office buildings can add unexpected cost and delay to lab conversion projects..
Existing offices, like all buildings, will almost always harbour some latent issues that will add complication during design or construction.
This can range from old plant in need of an upgrade, to asbestos or structural defects.The best incentive for industry-level change will come from owners, who are starting to understand the enormous financial costs of delays and disrupted schedules more than ever before.
And when owners make certain decisions, the supply chain will follow.. To learn more about our Design to Value approach to design and construction, sign up for our monthly newsletter here:.http://bit.ly/BWNewsUpdatesIntroduction – what is automation in construction?.
The overall landscape of the construction industry has been changing in recent years, driven by an expanding interest in areas such as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA), Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), and the use of transformative new technologies ranging from digital design tools to construction robotics and intelligent control systems.Broadly speaking, when we refer to automation in construction, we mean the development and application of tools, methods and technologies that automate various parts of a construction project from design through to the actual construction process.