Look Both Ways: No Longer a Fortress, the Lab of the Future Will Expand Shared Innovation
As the life science market booms, lab building construction is rapidly growing. Amidst today’s fast-paced development, it’s important to step back and consider longer term science research needs and future market changes. How can we create more resilient, attractive lab buildings that propel science discoveries forward into the future?
In a roundtable discussion hosted by NBBJ—part of a series dubbed Look Both Ways—US and UK leaders in real estate and commercial development examined key considerations for the future of labs, such as the rise of open innovation, the power of clustered amenities, partnerships between universities and private developers and what’s next for automation in life science real estate. In addition, the conversation opened with an unveiling of the Regenerative Lab, a design concept that can accommodate new research or flex into entirely different uses such as residences or offices as needs evolve. With sustainability a key priority, it features a cross-laminated timber and steel superstructure.
Look Both Ways Virtual Roundtable Participants:
From the US
- Peter Isaac, Vice President, Ancora
- Betty Ching-Sui Sun, Strategic Sourcing for Gilead
- Natasha Marcuard, Vice President, Northstar Project and Real Estate Services
- Mark DiNapoli, Managing Director, Design & Construction, Longfellow Real Estate Partners, LLC
From the UK
- Gareth Roberts, Head of Development, Innovation and Life Science, British Land
- Peter Ward, Director of Real Estate Development, King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust
- Michael Aston, Head of UK Life Sciences, Cushman Wakefield
- Chris Williams, Senior Director, CBRE
An Open Culture of Innovation
Long gone are the days of siloed life science discoveries, with researchers conducting experiments in fortressed labs. Today, innovation is more communal and open and our lab buildings must be able to quickly adapt to these evolving preferences. The urgency of vaccine research during the pandemic ushered in a new era of shared research and interdisciplinary teams. “The pandemic in my opinion was an example of how [research] was sped up when they took down the walls of information sharing and proprietary information, and they openly shared their information for the better of the whole society,” says Natasha Marcuard, Vice President, Northstar Project and Real Estate Services. Jay Siebenmorgen, NBBJ Design Partner adds, “It’s safe to say the pandemic changed the way we’re designing spaces, especially spaces for people. It’s about what happens in the in-between space, such as access to natural air and light.”
The Power of Clustered Amenities
The most resilient, attractive lab buildings will be located near or infused with amenities, helping drive innovation and creativity through interdisciplinary collaboration. Life science companies are seeking the energy found in urban innovation clusters near major research universities, such as Kendall Square in Boston and the “Golden Triangle” of Oxford, Cambridge and London, UK, with a direct pipeline to talent. It’s also about seamless neighborhood access: a walkable community rich with “third place” services—coffee shops, restaurants and retail—that attract and retain top life science innovators.
Meanwhile, this “virtuous density” can be created too, by bringing mixed-use amenities into a lab building itself, driving connections between increasingly interdisciplinary teams. “It is the diversity of occupiers that you need to have in the same building—this will be huge and will constantly change,” says Peter Ward, Director of Real Estate Development - King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust. Mark DiNapoli, Managing Director, Design & Construction, Longfellow Real Estate Partners, LLC agrees, “One of the things that we have found is that building out amenities in our campuses is a huge jumpstart to leasing when we're on a speculative basis. Without it, people ask ‘Where do I go for lunch? Where can I work out or where can I have a small conference with colleagues from other organizations that I can't fit in my lab or my office space?’”
Partnerships Between Universities and Private Developers
Amidst shifting research needs and an evolving regulatory environment, the role of unique collaborations between academic institutions and private developers will grow. We’ll see increased partnerships between universities and private developers to build not just sustainable and dynamic lab spaces, but attractive environments for collaboration with non-academic tenants. For instance, in the US, two illuminating case studies point the way forward. One leading university in Pennsylvania is leasing land to a developer to plan, design and deliver a bespoke R&D and manufacturing space for academic biotech, which the developer will then lease back to the university. In North Carolina, Duke University expanded its research footprint to downtown Durham, helping reinvigorate the city. “We converted some former tobacco buildings to lab buildings for them and did two ground-up projects, one of which they just sublet 100% to Google,” says Mark. “So you see all of a sudden this infrastructure and these relationships being built, a community being built of technology and life science spurred by a relationship between universities and private developers.”
Furthermore, we expect to see more academic life science research buildings provide incubation space for early-stage life science startups, offering shared access to specialized and costly research equipment, materials and resources. “We want to see start up and scale spaces being provided by developers, and developers being a bit more thoughtful about what they deliver. Don't just say shell-and-core and you deal with it,” says Gareth Roberts, Head of Development, Innovation and Life Science, British Land. “It's smaller suites, it's fitted labs, it's services that go with it that we should be providing to help the smaller businesses concentrate on the science.” In the UK, this may also mean future policy changes and loosening of regulatory systems to create more adaptable mixed-use buildings.
What’s Next for Automation in Life Science Real Estate
As the development of machine learning, AI and robotics is on the rise, we anticipate a greater separation of researchers from the physical lab space, as life science research becomes increasingly computational. With a growth of outsourced, remote “cloud labs,” research environments in high-cost urban areas instead will be first and foremost about bringing people together. “Increasingly technology is allowing people to do things remotely all the time: clouds, data storage or robotics or virtual mirroring. You can do standard lab activities cheaper in remote locations,” says Michael Aston, Head of UK Life Sciences, Cushman Wakefield. “Ultimately, the R&D focus in urban centers is about the people and encouraging talent to come to the location, spend their time there and collaborate.”
Natasha adds, “we’re starting to see a transition to determine what is the right module within the lab so that you can take a couple benches out and switch to automation type spaces.” In addition, we’ll see more robotic assistants, for example, robotic dogs, to help deliver lab materials between floors. Ultimately, even as science research and the role of the lab space will evolve with new technology, the goal will remain the same: to support life-saving discoveries. “At the end of the day, what are we all doing with life science buildings? We’re building spaces so the scientists can create groundbreaking vaccines and treat cancer,” says Natasha.
