In recent years, India has emerged as a powerful force in digital health innovation, transforming public health delivery, AI-led diagnostics, and biosciences manufacturing at an unprecedented pace. Yet, the physical environments in which this innovation occurs—labs, research hubs, and cleanroom facilities—are often overlooked. 

The question is no longer just what science we pursue, but where and how we enable it.

At Unispace, we’ve been observing and shaping the evolving life sciences infrastructure across the ANZ region, and the patterns are clear: the traditional lab model no longer serves the innovation economy. Instead, the sector is gravitating toward flexible, modular, and human-first spaces—labs that evolve as rapidly as the science inside them.

This disruption is precisely what India now needs.

R&D Over Manufacturing: A Model Shift

In ANZ, the life sciences ecosystem is fundamentally R&D-driven. Unlike global markets focused on large-scale pharmaceutical production, companies in this region are innovating at earlier stages, with growing numbers of biotech, diagnostics, and medtech startups.

This shift has triggered demand for incubator-style lab environments—shared, agile spaces with built-in infrastructure. These labs support a wide range of users without requiring massive capital investments. Similar models in Europe, like ARC, Kadans, and British Land, have found strong success, and ANZ is fast catching up.

► India’s Relevance: India’s surge in medtech startups, digital therapeutics, and early-stage biotech ventures makes this model highly replicable. Co-working labs with shared write-up spaces, pre-installed services, and modular benches could fuel R&D without forcing companies to overspend on full-scale builds.

Designing for Smart Flexibility

The incubator lab market in ANZ is still in its infancy, which makes understanding end-user needs more important than ever. While flexibility sounds attractive, it comes at a cost—and not all types of flexibility are financially sustainable.

The key lies in targeted, strategic design. Facilities must be tailored to specific market segments—whether that’s early-stage biotech, diagnostics, or medical devices. For some, flexibility may mean scalable lab space; for others, it could be pre-installed infrastructure, shared write-up areas, or convertible bench-to-suite zones.

The most successful lab developments are those that strike a balance between future-proofing and commercial realism—providing enough adaptability to support innovation, without overengineering or overcapitalising.

► India’s Opportunity: India’s life sciences real estate could greatly benefit from adopting segment-specific modular lab models. Integrating built-in adaptability in lab parks—via strategic planning of HVAC, electrical, and hydraulic systems—can help companies scale efficiently while protecting long-term ROI.

AI Is Essential, But Are We Ready?

Globally, 54% of leaders in life sciences say AI and smart technologies are critical—but only 36% of board-level leaders believe they’re ready. In ANZ, this gap is also visible.

The key roadblocks?

• Data fragmentation and governance
• Technological volatility
• Low AI fluency among leadership

Unispace tackles this through a “data-ready by design” approach, ensuring new labs have the infrastructure, connectivity, and flexibility to support AI and automation when the time is right. From sensor grids to digital environmental monitoring, labs are being designed to support AI integration gradually and securely.

► India’s Call to Action: India is quickly adopting AI for diagnostics, hospital automation, and clinical trial modelling. But to unlock its full potential, lab infrastructure must catch up. Retrofitting legacy buildings is costly—starting smart from Day 1 offers exponential long-term gains.

Sustainability Without Sacrifice

Laboratories are among the most energy-intensive spaces in any built environment. Unlike commercial offices, they operate under non-negotiable HVAC and equipment conditions, driven by safety, regulatory, and compliance needs.

In ANZ, Unispace is helping push sustainability up the design agenda. Through initiatives like the Australian chapter of I2SL (International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories), we benchmark against global best practices. Smart systems, zoned HVAC, and waste heat recovery are just some of the tools being deployed to lower operational impact.

► India’s Opportunity: As India ramps up its Green Hospital and Net Zero Health Infrastructure missions, lab design must follow suit. Leveraging Unispace’s sustainability strategies, India can reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint—especially in new life sciences clusters and R&D hubs.

Cleanroom Access: A New Leasing Economy

The rise of pre-commercial biosciences firms in ANZ has created new demand for leasable cleanrooms—fully certified, high-grade environments available on demand. These allow smaller companies to maintain compliance without front-loading millions in capital expenditure.

The Translational Research Institute (TRI) in Brisbane is a standout example, expanding to offer scalable, regulatory-approved manufacturing cleanrooms to support startups.

A Scalable Model for India

India’s goals for global leadership in medtech manufacturing, cell and gene therapy, and biologics will require a similar model—licensed cleanroom parks for rent, not just for large pharma but for emerging players with limited runway.

People First: Designing Labs for Talent

Scientific innovation doesn’t happen in isolation—it requires talent. And talent today is looking for more than sterile white walls. Labs are becoming workplaces—and as such, must consider wellbeing, collaboration, and user experience.

In ANZ, Unispace is applying human-centric principles from the corporate world to the lab space:

• Daylight integration and biophilia
• Noise control and acoustics
• Collaboration zones and ergonomic work areas

This design philosophy is helping life sciences companies compete in a global talent market, where the workplace itself influences recruitment and retention.

► India’s Opportunity: With India competing for global scientific talent, human-first lab design is no longer a luxury. It’s a differentiator. Institutions that integrate experience-led design into their labs will be better placed to foster innovation, retain talent, and build stronger employer brands.

Also read: Diagnostics at the Core: Driving India’s Healthcare Innovation and Equity

Redefining Infrastructure for a Digital Healthcare Economy

Unispace is not simply designing laboratories—we’re designing strategic platforms for health innovation. From R&D-driven modularity to AI readiness, from leasable cleanrooms to talent-centric design, our work in ANZ offers a future-forward model India can adapt and scale.

As India invests deeply into its Healthcare IT ecosystem, including biotech, medtech, and digital therapeutics, the need for infrastructure to match that ambition has never been clearer. With the right design models, India can skip generations of outdated systems and build the kind of agile, efficient, and inspiring spaces that global healthcare innovation demands.

The lab of the future is not a place. It’s a mindset. And at Unispace, we’re proud to help shape it globally and in India.

Views expressed by: Sam Gill, Head of Life Sciences, Unispace – ANZ Region

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