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Latest Reports

Tradeline's industry reports are a must-read resource for those involved in facilities planning and management. Reports include management case studies, current and in-depth project profiles, and editorials on the latest facilities management issues.

Managing Transformational Campus Renovation

Published 1/23/2019

University of Michigan transformed Weiser Hall—a 1960s brick tower with floor after floor of double-loaded, concrete block corridors—into a dynamic and flexible “center of centers” that brings together international and interdisciplinary institutes and centers so they can share space, services, and ideas. The provost’s charge was to renovate the building to create the “academic workplace of the future.” With the help of brightspot strategy and Diamond Schmitt architects, the team accomplished that mission with a seven-step formula that yielded impressive results, including an average overall productivity savings of 4.26 hours per person per week, the equivalent of every unit being able to grow its staff by 10 percent at no cost.

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Designing Space for Nomadic Workers

Published 1/16/2019

More and more, workers aren’t going to an office and sitting at the same desk Monday through Friday. Today’s architects, builders, institutions, and designers need to plan for a future in which workers are nomads—moving from one place to another within a building or campus, or showing up in the office just one or two days a week. These nomadic workers are often mobile by choice, taking advantage of the flexibility that technology has enabled for academic staff, knowledge workers, and even healthcare employees.

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Science Complex Addition and Renovation

Published 1/16/2019

Providence College’s 37,000-sf addition to the 70,000-sf Albertus Magnus Hall encourages collaboration among students and faculty within a multi-disciplinary environment for the departments of Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Psychology, and Engineering-Physics-Systems. The addition creates a new front entrance for the teaching and research facility, which is Phase 1B of a $50 million multi-phased project involving three adjoining buildings: Albertus Magnus, Sowa and Hickey halls.

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The How and Why of ‘Sticky Spaces’

Published 12/19/2018

The benefits of peer-based learning have led colleges around the country to devote spaces for students to study in groups. Designing these spaces so they actually attract students—making them “sticky”—requires providing the right mix for solo students and small and large groups; the furniture to accommodate them; amenities like ample white boards and well-placed coffee bars; floods of natural light; and ubiquitous access to power for recharging smartphones and laptops.

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