At twig HQ we hosted Sadia Nowshin from Sifted, telling our story of how we ended up working with Co-Laboratories to convert a London laundrette into a lab, right next to a fishmongers! 👕 🔬 🐟 Some of the best science happens in the strangest places! Check out the full article below! 👇
Junior Editor at Unbound's Boundless | Freelance Features Writer | John Schofield Trust Fellow ‘25
Scientific founders across Europe are still facing a shortage of affordable lab space — particularly in the UK's major hubs. But some are taking matters into their own hands. Adam Glen, PhD, cofounder of Unicorn Biotechnologies, converted a former nightclub in Sheffield into a bespoke office space — and reckons more people should be willing to think creatively around the problem. “We seem to do this thing in the UK where we wait for somebody else to take the initiative, and I don't understand that,” he says. “People just need to take action; they don’t get things done. [Founders complain] there’s no lab space – go and build some then!” I spoke to him — and Russ Tucker, whose lab space at twig was once a laundrette and currently sits next door to a particularly pungent fish processing centre (with the aircon to filter the smell, thankfully) — about the ups and downs of converting your own lab, and to Laura Grimwood of Co-Laboratories on why more real estate developers aren't jumping at the opportunity. More here: https://lnkd.in/e2Fp_rDb I could only find examples of such conversions within the UK — is this a practice sweeping across the rest of Europe yet or is the mainland yet to give it a go? Let me know!
CEO en BindEthics Ltd - Changemaker Royal Society of Chemistry -
2moWell known problem, Natalie Dickens is currently involved in mapping the root cause of this situation https://www.rsc.org/globalassets/22-new-perspectives/discovery/a-systems-approach-to-addressing-the-shortage-of-chemistry-labs-for-startups/unlocking-innovation-report.pdf