at Bryden Wood which is a radical and disruptive new digital approach to automated design for Highways England, developed by Bryden Wood Technology Ltd for the Smart Motorways Programme (SMP).. Maria coordinates a team of computational designers, architects and engineers using algorithmic methodologies to create radical solutions.
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.”.
There are of course caveats, and there may be other Planning or legal conditions to consider or parties to notify.An office to lab conversion also cannot be detrimental to the amenity of residential areas (e.g.noise, vibration, fumes), and this may still require demonstration via CFD or noise modelling.
Appointment of a Planning Consultant and application for a Certificate of Lawfulness is often advisable..Furthermore, new external chillers, AHUs (air-handling units), stacks and fans, louvres, waste stores, external access, and other material changes to the office building may still result in the need for Planning Permission.
This can add many unexpected weeks or even months to a project and introduces an element of risk.
In the fast-moving life science industry this is particularly frustrating and removes much of the benefit of converting an office in the first place.There is no doubt that there is complexity in the world.
There are competing beliefs, experiences, traditions and thus there are no perfect designs, no perfect solutions, however there is always the opportunity for great processes and great outcomes.Within change and complexity, we cannot hope to reach these aspirations by simply sticking with tradition.
We must like Tevye, flex, weigh things up and at times dispense completely with the way things were done.Guided by the value-we-can-create and the values-we-hold-to, we can constantly change the way we come together to find solutions to problems.