How to breathe life sciences into new urban office locations

The Francis Crick Institute in London’s King’s Cross and Imperial College’s I-Hub are no longer new buildings, but what they have enabled, coupled with advances in technology, could help breathe new life into urban office locations.

We purposefully designed both buildings to foster collaboration among diverse scientific disciplines. Each building houses a series of interconnected spaces that encourage interaction and the exchange of ideas: a mini-cluster within a building. This concept offers a blueprint for transforming underutilised office spaces into vibrant hubs of innovation in new urban locations.

The Francis Crick resembles a small city, fostering human interaction and community engagement. A consortium of six of the UK’s largest organisations for biomedical research, it recognises that research thrives not only on lab work but also on the collaborative exchange of ideas. Its placing in a very central urban location was a groundbreaking departure from the norm, and a larger cluster has since developed in the area as a result, creating a dynamic urban ecosystem for life sciences. 

Equally, the building’s focus on social interaction aligns with the lifestyle preferences of those working in the life sciences sector, which has led to increased interest in urban locations.

Canary Wharf is one such location looking to replicate the success of urban life sciences and establish an ecosystem. It’s a dynamic city setting with good transport links and amenities for staff. It also has easy access to locally-based funding partners and a track record for high-quality, energy-efficient workspaces.

Canary Wharf Group and Kadans Science Partner are planning a 750,000 sq ft building for life science described as a “campus under one roof” (pictured). Creating a cluster from scratch is challenging, but just like the Francis Crick, this building has the potential to establish an ecosystem within a single structure. 

Going forward, this mini-cluster could help to attract further life science opportunities for a district that has previously been dominated by office space users, catalysing a broader wave of urban renewal. The evolving post-pandemic nature of work, with an emphasis on remote and hybrid arrangements, has resulted in a lasting shift away from traditional office settings. 

Given the number of underutilised office buildings in urban areas generally, it is increasingly important to leverage technological advancements and emerging patterns of work to imagine new ways in which they can be sustainably repurposed. 

Life sciences in urban settings historically faced challenges due to stringent building requirements. Now, technological innovations such as improved vibration isolation or filtration for recirculating air systems are beginning to overcome some of these constraints. Similarly, the Constructing Science initiative provides a model and building standards, facilitating architects and developers in delivering life science spaces, including a roadmap for retrofitting existing buildings into labs. 

While establishing a life science cluster from scratch presents challenges, the potential to foster collaboration and critical mass within a single building is considerable. The success of the Francis Crick and I-Hub shows this. 

Repurposing a prime location redundant office building could serve as a sustainable incubator for startups and R&D functions, offering convenient access to talent. As life sciences intersect with fields like engineering, artificial intelligence, and robotics, new hybrid spaces emerge to facilitate collaboration and cross-disciplinary research. 

This convergence not only creates opportunities for life science companies but also drives job creation and economic growth in areas previously untapped by the science sector. It is a true win-win scenario for the life sciences sector and urban communities alike.