How I can help

Technical briefing and stakeholder engagement

I write, interpret and develop laboratory briefs, translating scientific and operational requirements into a clear basis for design. This includes stakeholder discussions, room and equipment requirements, relationships between activities, and the balance between laboratories, support areas, write-up space and shared facilities.

Feasibility studies and laboratory test fits

I help clients assess whether a building or proposed space can accommodate their scientific requirements. Through options studies, equipment layouts and laboratory test fits, I examine capacity, adjacencies, circulation and supporting accommodation to inform the selection of premises, refurbishment strategies, tenant discussions and investment decisions.

Laboratory planning and design

I develop layouts and supporting spaces for new buildings, refurbishments and fit-outs. My experience includes research and teaching laboratories, CL2 and CL3 facilities, cleanrooms, imaging suites and specialist environments for the physical and engineering sciences. I work alongside architects, engineers, equipment suppliers and delivery teams to coordinate laboratory requirements with the wider design.

Strategic advice and specialist review

I provide strategic design input, peer reviews and client monitoring. This may involve reviewing an emerging brief, testing a planning approach or assessing proposals against the intended scientific use, helping clients make informed decisions as the design develops.

Evaluation and space utilisation

I undertake evaluation and utilisation studies to understand how scientific workplaces perform in use. These consider how space is occupied, how activities have changed and where users have developed workarounds or encountered constraints, informing improvements and future briefs.

My approach

Understanding the science and the working day

My starting point is to understand the activities, equipment and relationships that shape the working day. I work from the bench outwards: how materials arrive, how samples move, where results are analysed, and how equipment will be maintained or replaced. This informs which activities belong together, where separation is needed and what can be shared.

Learning from laboratories in use

I am interested in which arrangements continue to serve their users, where difficulties emerge and how laboratories respond to changing science. Feedback from the people who use and operate a building helps turn those observations into practical requirements for the next project.

Planning for changing science

Automation, robotics and increasingly data-intensive research raise questions about workflows, servicing and the relationship between experimental and computational space. I explore these implications early in the brief. A larger research group, a replacement instrument and a room changing function place different demands on a building. Testing plausible scenarios helps identify where flexibility will have lasting value.

Sustainability and responsible use of resources

My work includes assessing existing buildings for new scientific uses and examining how accommodation can be used effectively. Retaining suitable spaces, avoiding unnecessary area and planning for future alterations can contribute to a more resource-conscious approach. Alongside clients and their design teams, I consider energy, water, materials and maintenance in the context of scientific and operational requirements.

Inclusive and supportive workplaces

Inclusive planning considers different physical and sensory needs, access to equipment, circulation and the suitability of workstations. Early user engagement helps identify barriers. Daylight and views, acoustic conditions, places to concentrate, opportunities for conversation and somewhere to take a break also matter. My interest extends to routes, shared destinations and connections to landscape that contribute to a research community.

Research and published perspectives

My articles examine scientific buildings through their planning, history and use, exploring how laboratories relate to shared spaces, landscape and the institutions and communities they serve. Earlier publications, research and conference contributions address interaction, adaptability, learning environments and lessons from buildings in use.

Speaking engagements

4 Labs 4 Cities
Comparative analysis of four labs in Oxford
Toronto, New York and Vancouver | 2012

Osbourne Research Facility Design Conference
Utrecht | Holland

Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine
‘Laborrunde’, Berlin | 2010, 2011

Laboratories of the Future
Copenhagen | 2013 

One Nucleus Bio - Incubator
London | 2013

Laboratory Design: Adaptable to Future Needs
Nohr-Con Laboratories of the Future
Copenhagen | May 2015

‘Laborrunde’, Collaborative interdisciplinary environments for science
Berlin | 2015

Tradeline Research Facilities
’Building a better future for research science: A comparative occupant study of recent UK laboratory buildings’
Florida | May 2015

R&D Magazine Laboratory Design Conference
‘The Healthy Lab’
Madrid | September 2017

UKSPA
’Refreshing R&D space - considerations from a user perspective’
Lincoln | June 2018

Innovation Workshop
International Workshop at the University of Glasgow on the Cities Interdisciplinary Innovation Zone. Facilitator and speaker in collaboration with 7N and Aecom
Glasgow | April 2018

Articles

The Spaces That Help Science Move Forward
September 11, 2026

The Outdoor Room: Laboratory Design at Brisbane’s Translational Research Institute
August 12, 2026

Controlled and Connected: The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Sydney, Australia
June 11, 2026

CiDER, Osaka University's Spaceship Earth
February 11, 2026

HBN 15, New Laboratory design guidelines
Co-Author · Researcher · Designer

Trends in Genetics, Interactive Labs

Laboratory News
Designing for Interaction

Architects Journal
Opinion piece, Building a Healthy Outlook

Laboratory News
’Adaptable Labs’, 2014

Whitepaper
’The Science of Learning: Designing the STEM Learning Facilities of the Future’
Contributing author | 2016–17