Before You Lease a Laboratory Space, What Should You Evaluate?

Finding a new laboratory space can be exciting, especially when an organization is growing or preparing for its next stage. A promising location, additional square footage, and an existing laboratory buildout can make a property look like the right fit.

But you can’t evaluate laboratory space on appearance and square footage alone.

The equipment that will operate inside the facility can place very specific demands on power, ventilation, specialty gases, plumbing, floor loading, environmental conditions, and physical access. Scientific workflows, storage, service requirements, and future growth also influence whether a space will actually work once the laboratory is operational.

At Overbrook Support Services, we help organizations evaluate laboratory equipment and operational requirements before major facility decisions are finalized. Identifying those requirements early can help uncover potential problems before they become expensive changes later in the project.

What Infrastructure Should You Evaluate Before Leasing Lab Space?

Before leasing laboratory space, evaluate whether the facility’s electrical, HVAC, ventilation, plumbing, specialty gas, data, and backup power infrastructure can support your current and planned scientific equipment.

Existing laboratory space may already include some of this infrastructure, but that does not mean it meets your operation’s requirements.

A facility may need additional electrical capacity for new instrumentation, different ventilation requirements for specific processes, or modifications to accommodate specialty gases and plumbing. These issues can significantly affect the work required before the laboratory is ready for occupancy.

Understanding infrastructure requirements before signing a lease gives your team a clearer picture of what it will actually take to make the space operational.

What Equipment Requirements Should You Evaluate in a New Lab Space?

When evaluating a new laboratory space, consider equipment dimensions, service clearances, floor loading, utility connections, and the access routes required to move instrumentation into place.

An instrument can fit perfectly in its proposed location and still create problems if technicians cannot access it for maintenance or required utilities cannot reach it.

Teams should also consider how equipment will physically enter the facility. Loading docks, freight elevators, hallways, doorways, ceiling heights, and turning clearances can determine whether large or sensitive instrumentation can reach its final location.

Finding out that an instrument cannot make it from the loading dock to the laboratory after a lease is signed creates a very different problem than identifying that constraint during site evaluation.

How Should Scientific Workflows Factor Into Laboratory Space Planning?

Scientific workflows should factor into laboratory space planning because the facility needs to support how scientists, samples, materials, and equipment move throughout the laboratory.

Consider how personnel, samples, materials, equipment, storage, and waste move throughout the space. Frequently used instruments may need to be positioned near particular work areas, while certain processes may depend on nearby utilities or support spaces.

A layout that ignores these relationships can create unnecessary movement, congestion, and inefficiencies once the laboratory becomes operational.

Understanding scientific workflows early allows you to evaluate the facility based on how the laboratory will function day-to-day.

Can the Laboratory Space Support Storage and Future Growth?

A prospective laboratory space should provide enough capacity for current storage needs and anticipated growth in personnel, equipment, samples, and research programs.

Storage is easy to underestimate during early planning. Consumables, samples, chemicals, spare parts, documentation, and other materials all require space, and those needs can increase as the organization grows.

Future instrumentation should also be considered. Filling every available area on day one may leave the laboratory with few options when a new research program or instrument is introduced.

A facility should solve more than today’s space problem. It should provide enough flexibility to support where the organization is headed next.

Why Should You Complete an Equipment-Based Test Fit Before Signing a Lease?

An equipment-based laboratory test fit can help determine whether a prospective space can support the laboratory’s instrumentation, infrastructure, workflows, and operational requirements before the organization makes a major commitment.

“A laboratory can look like the right fit on paper and still have major limitations once you evaluate the instrumentation. Before committing to a space, you need to understand how the equipment, utilities, access, and scientific workflows will actually function together.” — Ted Palashis

Rather than evaluating a space primarily by square footage, a laboratory test fit brings actual equipment requirements into the planning process.

This can reveal issues involving utility capacity, equipment clearances, access routes, workflow, storage, or infrastructure while there is still time to evaluate alternatives.

It can also give corporate real estate teams, laboratory leadership, architects, and other project stakeholders a more realistic understanding of what it will take to convert the space into a functioning laboratory.

What Should You Know Before Signing a Laboratory Lease?

Before signing a laboratory lease, understand whether the space can support your equipment, infrastructure, scientific workflows, storage requirements, move-in logistics, and future growth.

A laboratory that looks ideal during an initial walkthrough may require substantial modifications once you consider actual instrumentation requirements. Identifying those requirements early gives your organization better information to compare spaces, estimate project needs, and determine whether a prospective facility is truly a good fit.

The goal is not simply to find a space where the laboratory can fit.

It is to find a space where the science can function effectively from day one and continue to grow.

How Can Overbrook Help You Evaluate a Laboratory Space Before Leasing?

Overbrook Support Services helps organizations evaluate equipment, infrastructure, scientific workflows, and facility requirements before committing to a new laboratory space.

Our team can help identify potential constraints and determine whether a facility can support your current and future scientific operations.