Problems with renewable energy: wind and solar challenges.
Ground floor units and older office buildings may also have larger floor-to-floor heights, and there can even be opportunities to increase headroom by removing raised-access floors (though this will impact floor thresholds.)A deeper ceiling void may also introduce the need for sprinklers or fire detection systems.. 3.
Structural frames in existing office buildings may be unable to support higher lab loads or vibration sensitive equipment..Some automated and larger-scale lab equipment can be particularly heavy, and even high densities of smaller equipment or storage items can result in relatively high loads when compared to a standard office fit-out.A typical office may have a live load capacity of around 3-4kN/m.
2. , while a lab will often require 4-5kN/m.2. , with some specialised equipment reaching over 20kN/m.
Labs will also require additional suspended services and potentially new HVAC or utility plant in the refurbished office space or on the roof, meaning a wider building assessment is necessary.
Additionally, some lab operations can be extremely vibration sensitive, and a lightweight steel-framed office might not be the best starting point..These must be stored and distributed, and appropriate safety systems installed.
In some cases this can be relatively simple, while other gasses (e.g.vaporised liquid nitrogen which is used in cryogenics, or oxygen which is used in bioreactors) can be very problematic – especially on upper-floors or where labs neighbour office tenancies.. 6.
Planning.. Planning Permission & other approvals may be required despite ‘office to lab’ Permitted Development rights..In the UK, offices can be converted into labs without needing Planning Permission since they now fall under the same ‘Use Class.’ This includes facilities used for “research and development of products or processes,” “industrial processes,” or the “provision of medical or health services.”.