In short, we want construction sites to be more like factories.. Off-site and modular construction: are factories really all that great?.

The need to focus on the future function of labs, rather than generic labs was clear..The group agreed that opportunities to magnify the value output of laboratories lie within the broad spectrum of data, automation/growth in data processing, and smart technology and systems.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning offer transformational change in value creation.Although there are some individual examples of its real-life deployment, we are at the start of an exponential curve.. A thread of discussion around the idea that systems could be self-validating created significant energy in the room, as well as friction between those who understood how transformational such a realised idea could be with those who saw the potential disaster.Regulators are clearly going to be either a key partner/enabler or barrier to smart developments.

Or both.. What appears to be clear already is that the impacts of the growth of these technologies will be felt in all parts of laboratory operations: people, skills required, job satisfaction, locations, collaborations, buildings.This is certainly not a time to be wedded to the bench..

Intimately linked, still early in its industrialisation but a few stages ahead of smart-technology, is automation and digitisation.

Certainly, for automation, there is more confidence and immediate view about the tangible benefits that it could bring.. ‘Automating out’ routine work can have a significant impact on cost where there is the scale to support the investment.This enabled the development of a system which is ‘a hybrid, precast concrete and steel system specifically for Circle,’ one which follows the ‘grain’ and ‘functional requirements,’ of all the spaces to be contained within the building.

‘This made the delivery of the building faster,’ says Wood.‘It made the quality of the building higher and the accuracy of the building higher, and it made this efficiency repeatable on future projects with relative ease.’ Notably, he says, the process also enabled ‘an understanding of the potential scale and efficiency of the building much earlier than normally possible.’.

Maswiken recognises that the building’s sense of spaciousness comes from the fact that the hospital benefits from such a ‘well thought out design.’ ‘We’re very lucky with our building and the set up,’ he says.‘You don’t feel claustrophobic at all.’.