Latest Reports

Does the appropriateness of a building for a contemplated use reside solely in its volume, area, and systems adequacy? Or does that thinking negate nearly every aspect of culture and placemaking? Should we instead consider the best features of an exiting building, and how we can accentuate those features in an adaptive reuse of the space? Ben de Rubertis, principal at Flad Architects, offers a different way to think about adaptive reuse.

The successful decarbonization of labs and other critical science environments to increase energy efficiency, occupant safety, and annual savings requires a goal-oriented project team with the cultural mindset to adopt effectual technology/engineering processes, procurement strategies, and incentive-based outcomes. Science and engineering facilities often encounter substantial obstacles, such as cost restraints, safety issues, restrictive regulations, and tight deadlines, when completing the massive energy transition necessary to decarbonize their labs. 

The Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Center for Quantum Precision Measurement at Caltech in Pasadena will house sections of the physics department in subterranean labs filled with specialized space for experimentalists who require unique instrumentation with stringent specifications, which in large part drove the design of the facility. The four upper levels of the new 70,000-sf facility will include multipurpose space for seminars, lectures, and special events; and office workspace for theoretical physicists.

The New Education and Research Building (NERB) at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School has emerged as a sustainable, high-performance medical research facility that is energy efficient in a demanding climate. Beyond its brilliant façade lie 350,000 sf of light-filled lab and work spaces spanning nine floors, servicing the departments of gene therapy/genetics, molecular medicine, neurobiology, and neurology/neurosurgery. A sustainability leader in the region, the building is designed to have a very low annual energy usage intensity (EUI) of 130 kBtu/sq-yr. It is expected to achieve LEED Gold Certification and be net-zero ready for energy and carbon.

The past few decades have brought myriad technological changes to our daily lives, and experts predict the pace of change will only increase—especially in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Much of the talk surrounding AI focuses on automating repetitive processes and analyzing data, which require additional computational power but not necessarily structural modifications. But emerging technologies, including AI and robotics, may require universities and companies to rethink their approach to designing and planning buildings and labs.