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.
Latest Reports
A Process to Reclaim and Reallocate Underutilized, Underperforming Research Space
Faced with aging buildings, decreased national funding, no buildable space on the urban campus, plus new research grants that required additional lab and bench space, and a medical school reorganization to consolidate eight basic science departments to four while adding two department chairs and eight principal investigators, Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) introduced an initiative to reclaim and reallocate available research space without new construction.
Exploratory Hall Science Building
George Mason University’s Exploratory Hall Science Building is the culmination of a five-story, 100,600-gsf renovation of the former Science + Technology II building, and a 64,000-gsf, four-story addition that connects to Planetary Hall. The renovated structure houses computational and dry laboratories; computer classrooms for GIS, computational science, and mathematics; lecture halls; and gathering spaces.
Distinguishing Features of High-Performing Shared Core Labs
Today’s high-performance laboratories can be categorized into three different “platforms,” or core facilities, each with a unique set of metrics and key features that set them apart in terms of productivity, ability to support emerging programs, and economy of operation (both capital and energy). Understanding the distinguishing features can increase productivity and operator efficiency, and ensure the proper investments for future flexibility and adaptability.
20 Somerset Street
Suffolk University’s new 110,000-sf, 10-story academic building, 20 Somerset Street, contains four floors of general classroom space topped by four floors of lab space—1,100 classroom seats in all—in addition to a first-floor, 200-seat cafeteria that doubles as a function room. In the middle is a floor dedicated to student support services, including computer labs and a learning center. The building houses the university’s physics, chemistry, and biology departments, as well as the journalism and communications department and faculty offices.
Computational Biology Poses New Design Challenges for Research Facilities
An explosion in computation and large data set analyses is challenging the nature and processes of translational research, significantly impacting how such institutions plan for space needs. The link between strategic planning, programming, and design is much more dynamic, and requires faster feedback and the development of new metrics to drive value creation through strategic planning.
"That increase in computation has a significant impact on how we strategically plan for translational research,” says Andy Snyder, AIA, principal/architect at NBBJ.