diff --git a/conda-requirements.txt b/conda-requirements.txt
index 3324c5fbc4..cd89693e57 100644
--- a/conda-requirements.txt
+++ b/conda-requirements.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ numpy
 pyke
 udunits2
 cf_units
+dask
 
 # Iris build dependencies
 setuptools
diff --git a/lib/iris/_lazy_data.py b/lib/iris/_lazy_data.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1433e66620
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/iris/_lazy_data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# (C) British Crown Copyright 2017, Met Office
+#
+# This file is part of Iris.
+#
+# Iris is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the
+# Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Iris is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+# along with Iris.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+"""
+Routines for lazy data handling.
+
+To avoid replicating implementation-dependent test and conversion code.
+
+"""
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+from six.moves import (filter, input, map, range, zip)  # noqa
+
+import dask.array as da
+
+
+def is_lazy_data(data):
+    """
+    Return whether the argument is an Iris 'lazy' data array.
+
+    At present, this means simply a Dask array.
+    We determine this by checking for a "compute" property.
+
+    """
+    return hasattr(data, 'compute')
+
+
+def as_concrete_data(data):
+    """
+    Return the actual content of the argument, as a numpy array.
+
+    If lazy, return the realised data, otherwise return the argument unchanged.
+
+    """
+    if is_lazy_data(data):
+        data = data.compute()
+    return data
+
+
+# A magic value, borrowed from biggus
+_MAX_CHUNK_SIZE = 8 * 1024 * 1024 * 2
+
+
+def as_lazy_data(data):
+    """
+    Return a lazy equivalent of the argument, as a lazy array.
+
+    For an existing dask array, return it unchanged.
+    Otherwise, return the argument wrapped with dask.array.from_array.
+    This assumes the underlying object has numpy-array-like properties.
+
+    .. Note::
+
+        For now at least, chunksize is set to an arbitrary fixed value.
+
+    """
+    if not is_lazy_data(data):
+        data = da.from_array(data, chunks=_MAX_CHUNK_SIZE)
+    return data
diff --git a/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/__init__.py b/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9eed1ff4c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# (C) British Crown Copyright 2017, Met Office
+#
+# This file is part of Iris.
+#
+# Iris is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the
+# Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Iris is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+# along with Iris.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+"""Unit tests for the :mod:`iris._lazy_data` module."""
+
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+from six.moves import (filter, input, map, range, zip)  # noqa
diff --git a/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/test_as_concrete_data.py b/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/test_as_concrete_data.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..760af08872
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/test_as_concrete_data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# (C) British Crown Copyright 2017, Met Office
+#
+# This file is part of Iris.
+#
+# Iris is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the
+# Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Iris is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+# along with Iris.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+"""Test :meth:`iris._lazy data.as_concrete_data` method."""
+
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+from six.moves import (filter, input, map, range, zip)  # noqa
+
+# Import iris.tests first so that some things can be initialised before
+# importing anything else.
+import iris.tests as tests
+
+import numpy as np
+import dask.array as da
+
+from iris._lazy_data import is_lazy_data, as_concrete_data
+
+
+class Test_as_concrete_data(tests.IrisTest):
+    def test_lazy(self):
+        lazy_values = np.arange(30).reshape((2, 5, 3))
+        lazy_array = da.from_array(lazy_values, 1e6)
+        result = as_concrete_data(lazy_array)
+        self.assertFalse(is_lazy_data(result))
+        self.assertArrayAllClose(result, lazy_values)
+
+    def test_real(self):
+        real_array = np.arange(24).reshape((2, 3, 4))
+        result = as_concrete_data(real_array)
+        self.assertFalse(is_lazy_data(result))
+        self.assertIs(result, real_array)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    tests.main()
diff --git a/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/test_as_lazy_data.py b/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/test_as_lazy_data.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8400c66c4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/test_as_lazy_data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# (C) British Crown Copyright 2017, Met Office
+#
+# This file is part of Iris.
+#
+# Iris is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the
+# Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Iris is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+# along with Iris.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+"""Test :meth:`iris._lazy data.as_lazy_data` method."""
+
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+from six.moves import (filter, input, map, range, zip)  # noqa
+
+# Import iris.tests first so that some things can be initialised before
+# importing anything else.
+import iris.tests as tests
+
+
+import numpy as np
+import dask.array as da
+
+from iris._lazy_data import as_lazy_data, as_concrete_data, is_lazy_data
+
+
+class Test_as_lazy_data(tests.IrisTest):
+    def test_lazy(self):
+        lazy_values = np.arange(30).reshape((2, 5, 3))
+        lazy_array = da.from_array(lazy_values, 1e6)
+        result = as_lazy_data(lazy_array)
+        self.assertTrue(is_lazy_data(result))
+        self.assertIs(result, lazy_array)
+
+    def test_real(self):
+        real_array = np.arange(24).reshape((2, 3, 4))
+        result = as_lazy_data(real_array)
+        self.assertTrue(is_lazy_data(result))
+        self.assertArrayAllClose(as_concrete_data(result),
+                                 real_array)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    tests.main()
diff --git a/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/test_is_lazy_data.py b/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/test_is_lazy_data.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..90e0ff6aff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/iris/tests/unit/lazy_data/test_is_lazy_data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# (C) British Crown Copyright 2017, Met Office
+#
+# This file is part of Iris.
+#
+# Iris is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the
+# Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Iris is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+# along with Iris.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+"""Test :meth:`iris._lazy data.is_lazy_data` method."""
+
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+from six.moves import (filter, input, map, range, zip)  # noqa
+
+# Import iris.tests first so that some things can be initialised before
+# importing anything else.
+import iris.tests as tests
+
+import numpy as np
+import dask.array as da
+
+from iris._lazy_data import is_lazy_data
+
+
+class Test_is_lazy_data(tests.IrisTest):
+    def test_lazy(self):
+        lazy_values = np.arange(30).reshape((2, 5, 3))
+        lazy_array = da.from_array(lazy_values, 1e6)
+        self.assertTrue(is_lazy_data(lazy_array))
+
+    def test_real(self):
+        real_array = np.arange(24).reshape((2, 3, 4))
+        self.assertFalse(is_lazy_data(real_array))
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    tests.main()
diff --git a/minimal-conda-requirements.txt b/minimal-conda-requirements.txt
index 5299e438e9..a87c787ec9 100644
--- a/minimal-conda-requirements.txt
+++ b/minimal-conda-requirements.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ numpy
 pyke
 udunits2
 cf_units
+dask
 
 # Iris build dependencies
 setuptools