Interior Design Offices: Lessons from Research & Development

In a knowledge economy, physical space is more than a backdrop—it’s a catalyst. This is especially true in innovation hubs where the demand for agility, collaboration, and deep focus converges. Drawing inspiration from the expansion of the Francis Crick Institute into Regent Place and the architectural ingenuity behind research hubs such as those designed by Gensler in London’s Knowledge Quarter, it’s clear that interior design offices are no longer passive containers but active enablers of innovation.

As interior designers, we see a growing trend of commercial R&D facilities and technology firms seeking layouts that mirror the dynamism of scientific research environments. Here are four key design principles shaping the future of interior design offices for innovation-led organisations.


Collaboration-First Layouts
The traditional notion of a lab or research centre as a series of enclosed, highly specialised rooms is giving way to more open, fluid environments. Open-plan labs and hybrid team zones are now being adapted for broader commercial use. These layouts break down silos, allowing cross-functional teams—engineers, data scientists, and product strategists—to collaborate seamlessly.

Spaces designed for flexibility, such as the Crick Institute’s open lab platforms, enable visibility across disciplines and spontaneous ideation. In the commercial sphere, this concept translates into hot-desking clusters, shared project tables, writable surfaces, and resource areas that encourage informal knowledge exchange. Interior design offices that prioritise collaboration often see a measurable uptick in employee engagement and innovation velocity.


Modular Interior Design
Innovation doesn’t move in straight lines—it grows, pivots, and sometimes contracts. Interior design must accommodate that rhythm. Modular design enables organisations to scale their physical environments in tandem with project cycles.

By using reconfigurable partitions, movable joinery, and plug-and-play lab benches or tech pods, offices can support rapid prototyping, agile development, and multi-stage research workflows. For instance, retractable meeting rooms can transform into workshop areas, and focus booths can be repurposed for VR-based user testing. At Turnkey Interiors, we’ve helped clients embed these adaptable solutions into their floor plans to extend the lifecycle of their workspace and reduce fit-out waste.


Knowledge Flow Planning
Where traditional office planning might optimise for efficiency, innovation hubs optimise for serendipity. One of the most overlooked strategies in interior design offices is the choreography of movement within the space.

Drawing from evidence-based design, knowledge flow planning considers how spatial pathways encourage spontaneous interactions. Think of diagonal corridors intersecting with breakout zones, staircases that double as amphitheatres, or glass walkways linking departmental pods. These connective elements foster informal conversation—the kind that can lead to intellectual breakthroughs or product insights. The layout of the Crick Institute’s atriums and mezzanines exemplifies how visibility and proximity can turn physical space into a tool for idea generation.


Bridging Science and Corporate Culture
Designing an innovation hub is about more than accommodating lab coats and laptops; it’s about merging two often dissonant worlds—science and corporate culture. In today’s hybrid work era, organisations want spaces that look professional, feel inclusive, and support high-performance research.

This requires an aesthetic that balances clinical clarity with corporate polish. For example, biophilic materials, neutral palettes, and high-performance lighting can create environments that are both calming and cognitively stimulating. At Turnkey Interiors, we focus on curated materiality—combining matte surfaces with smart glass, ergonomic seating with modular tech docking—to help firms project both precision and personality.

Equally, branding integration plays a crucial role. From digital signage to custom joinery that subtly echoes an organisation’s mission, interior design offices can embed identity into their very walls. This is especially important in attracting top talent, who often weigh workplace culture alongside compensation.


Designing for Growth and Legacy
The growth of innovation ecosystems—from Cape Town to Cambridge—is reshaping the future of work. For interior design offices to stay relevant, they must design with both growth and legacy in mind. That means creating environments that evolve with their occupants, promote knowledge sharing, and uphold the ethos of scientific discovery even in corporate settings.

As we help clients scale their innovation hubs, we return time and again to these principles. Whether retrofitting a historic warehouse or blueprinting a new-build research centre, our goal at Turnkey Interiors is to create environments that do more than house progress—they enable it.

If your organisation is planning to build, refurbish, or scale an innovation-led workspace, we’d love to collaborate. Contact us to learn how our experience in interior design offices can help you design for discovery.