In most lab buildings, offices and collaborative spaces are typically situated on the same floor as the labs. Researchers value this proximity, which enhances communication and collaboration. However, the reality of space allocation often results in offices being assigned to different floors, or even different buildings.

From a building efficiency perspective, having labs and offices on the same floor is not ideal. Labs require greater floor-to-floor height to accommodate overhead installations and thicker floor slabs to support heavier loads. Consequently, on the office side of a combined floor, there is often significant unused headroom. This unused height represents wasted space, along with wasted structural, core, and facade construction costs.

Some lab designs recognize the inherent differences between lab and office spaces by separating them onto different floors or in separate building blocks.

For example, Novartis Fabrikstrasse 22 has a dedicated office floor situated above three lab floors. These lab levels are interconnected as well as linked to the office floor by an internal glass-enclosed sculptural stair. The custom lab workbenches also incorporate office desks, effectively serving dual purposes as lab and office spaces.

The Bristol University laboratory building consists of two interconnected buildings - one for labs and one for offices - linked by bridges across an interior atrium. Three lab levels with greater floor-to-floor heights correspond to four office levels occupying the same total height. Two of the office floors connect to the middle lab floor via half-floor stairs.

By splitting the lab and office spaces, each can be purpose-built without the need to compromise to accommodate conflicting spatial and systems requirements. However, this approach may introduce issues related to adjacency and travel distance between the two types of spaces.