New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 30/12 | Page 35

provided views through glass back into the labs.
“We also placed meeting rooms in the central
core, which avoids them being colonised by any
one group. Everything is shared, and this in itself,
required an entirely new management procedure,
and trust on the part of the researchers. Laboratory
consumables are not kept on individual benches;
they are dispensed from a central store. This has
meant the labs are much less cluttered, because
nothing is hoarded.”
Edwards says laboratories, by their very nature,
can be visually chaotic. The new operating system

helps to avoid this. So, too, does the white colour
of the walls and ceilings. In contrast, the main circulation route alongside each laboratory is defined
by a black ceiling.
“We gave each neighbourhood an identity,
however. Each floor is colour coded – filing cabinets and glass panels at the end of each row of
workstations are brightly coloured.
“We also ensured every room, aside from the
light-controlled areas, is flooded with natural
light from large windows. We were fortunate that
the floor levels needed to align with floors in the

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