Latest Reports

How do you respect your campus’ architectural heritage while creating innovative spaces that will serve faculty and students for generations to come? Successfully balancing these demands means realizing what’s possible, studying the history and styles of existing campus buildings, and actively engaging stakeholders to understand their vision for the institution's future. The options run the gamut, from blending in with the historic landscape to creating an entirely new statement for the campus.

The Ohio State University is realizing its vision to facilitate collaboration between the College of Medicine and the College of Engineering. The new Biomedical and Materials Engineering Complex (BMEC) is the first of a multiphase plan to advance the joint exploration of medical science and the material sciences.

Decisions about space size, type, and utilization must be based on data, but massive datasets can prove to be too much of a good thing if they are not translated into usable, understandable information. HDR's proprietary software, Data Wrangler, provides a platform for facilities planners, operators, and owners to visualize how data defines their spaces, and then manipulates that data in real time to demonstrate how to maximize the assets' potential. The result: Greater collaboration and faster decision-making.

Faced with a massive renovation and no swing space for 1,800 cages of "dirty" mice, the University of Missouri at Columbia opted to lease a pair of modular vivaria, install them in an underutilized warehouse, and switch to disposable cages. Researchers were prohibited from entering the viviaria, so cages were delivered directly to their labs. How well did it work? "I would do it again, 100 times,” says the university’s assistant director for research in the Office of Animal Resources.

When lockdown ended, many organizations saw the proven viability of telecommuting as a chance to reduce their real estate needs. Sandia National Laboratories seized the opportunity to use its work-from-home dividend to renovate its older buildings and update building amenities.