Can a laboratory be built in a commercial office building?

Often, yes. Floor loading, ceiling height, riser space, exhaust paths and power capacity decide feasibility. We assess these before you sign a lease or commit to a design, so there are no surprises later.

What does a laboratory fitout cost?

It depends on containment level, services and equipment, and lab space costs significantly more per square metre than office space. Our early technical scoping gives you a reliable budget, then a fixed price before construction starts.

Do you build PC2 laboratories?

Yes. We design and build PC2 laboratories to the requirements of the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator, and provide the documentation you need for certification.

Can you work while our lab stays operational?

Yes. We stage works, isolate services and plan around your sample, testing and equipment schedules to keep disruption to a minimum.

Do you also deliver office fitouts?

Yes, it's the core of what we do. Many life sciences clients engage us for their head office or commercial workplace first, then for their technical spaces.

How long does a laboratory fitout take?

Typically longer than an office of the same size, because of services coordination, specialist equipment lead times and commissioning. We set the programme during scoping and hold to it under a fixed-price contract.

Life Sciences and Laboratory Fitouts | Delivered Across Australia

Most life sciences organisations don't work in a lab or an office. They work across both, every day. Scientists move from the bench to write-up areas, project meetings and client calls, often several times an hour.

Yet labs and offices are usually designed and built by different teams, under different contracts, to different priorities. The result is technical spaces that function but isolate people, and workplaces that ignore how science actually gets done.

Axiom brings the two together. We apply the same evidence-based strategy, design and delivery we use for Australia's leading corporate workplaces to laboratory environments, so your facility meets every technical requirement and still supports collaboration, wellbeing and talent retention.

Pharmaceutical and biotech. Head offices, medical affairs and commercial teams, plus the R&D and analytical labs that sit alongside them.

Contract research organisations. Clinical operations hubs, sample handling and laboratory areas, and client-facing workplaces that win trust.

Pathology and diagnostics. Testing and analytical laboratories, specimen reception and processing, and support offices that keep high-throughput operations running.

Medical technology. Product development labs, testing and prototyping spaces, and showrooms and training rooms for clinicians.

Research institutes and universities. Wet and dry labs, shared equipment suites and write-up spaces that bring multidisciplinary teams together.

Specialist testing laboratories. Analytical, quality-control and accredited testing environments, like the facility we delivered for Racing Analytical Services.

For more information download our guide below:

Technical Spaces

PC1 and PC2 laboratories, built to support OGTR certification
Analytical, quality-control and testing laboratories
Laboratory design and construction to AS/NZS 2982, with safety requirements under the AS/NZS 2243 series
Fume cupboards, biological safety cabinets and specialised exhaust
Laboratory gases, RO/DI water, compressed air and dedicated power
Laboratory benching, service spines and booms, and chemical storage
Controlled and cleanroom environments to ISO 14644
Office-to-laboratory conversions in commercial buildings

Workplace Spaces

Write-up and analysis areas positioned for line of sight to the lab
Collaborative and project spaces for cross-functional teams
Executive, commercial and client-facing workplaces
Amenity, end-of-trip and social spaces that help attract and retain scientific talent

Includes Workplace Delivery

Equipment schedules and coordination with your suppliers
Staged works in live, operating laboratories
Decommissioning and relocation of existing labs
Commissioning support and handover documentation for your certification and validation processes

Strategy and briefing. We run user-group workshops with your scientists, lab managers and EHS team. We map workflows, sample and material flows, containment zones and how people move between lab and office.
Technical scoping. We build the equipment schedule and services matrix early, then test it against the base building's structure, risers, exhaust paths and power capacity before you commit to a site or design.
Design. Our designers work with specialist laboratory engineers so that compliance, function and workplace experience are resolved together, not traded off late in the project.
Cost certainty. You get a fixed, transparent price under a single design-and-construct contract, so specialist services don't become late-stage variations.
Construction. Experienced site teams and accredited laboratory trades deliver the works, including staged works where your lab must stay operational.
Commissioning and handover. We coordinate testing, commissioning and documentation to support your certification and validation, then stay with you through the defects period.
Measurement. Our wrkx INDEX measures how the new environment performs for your people, before and after.

Why Axiom?

One team, one contract, one accountable partner. Strategy, design and construction sit under one roof, so nothing falls between the lab specialist, the designer and the builder.

Workplace expertise most lab builders don't have. We've spent 28 years designing workplaces for organisations like Cisco, Schindler, Slater & Gordon and BOQ. We bring that understanding of culture, collaboration and talent to technical environments.

Evidence, not guesswork. Our wrkx INDEX measures the impact of design on how people work. For life sciences clients, that means measuring collaboration between bench and office teams, wellbeing and time spent on high-value work.

Cost certainty from day one. Fixed-price design and construct means your board approves a number, not an estimate.

Certified and accountable. We are ISO-certified for quality, environmental and WHS management, with an ESG framework that supports your sustainability targets.

National reach. Teams in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth, with experience delivering consistent outcomes across multiple sites

We aspire to create a world in which all workplaces support people to thrive and reach their full potential.

Featured Life Sciences Projects

Racing Analytical Services
Sydney, New South Wales

Life Sciences Fitout Project

The Royal College Pathology Australia
St Leonards, New South Wales

PC2 Laboratory Fitout Project

Life Sciences & Laboratory Fitouts

Where science and workplace work as one.

Integrated laboratory and workplace fitouts for pharma, biotech, CROs, diagnostics and research organisations. Strategy, design and construction from one team, with the cost certainty your board expects.

Laboratories and workplaces, designed together

Elevate your Life Sciences Workplace.