Space Use

A campus-wide classroom study—conducted in response to a projected enrollment increase, shifts in funding criteria, and a huge backlog of deferred maintenance—is providing planners at the University of North Carolina Charlotte with powerful new perspectives to support novel teaching and learning paradigms. A dynamic, updatable planning tool created from the study data incorporates dashboards that streamline scenario planning, empowering the university to allocate funding more precisely to meet projected facility needs and achieve current and future educational goals.

The fast-moving nature of biotechnology innovation means architects and designers for Regeneron have to plan for researchers’ requirements to change by the time new laboratories open on the Tarrytown, N.Y., campus. The campus is undergoing a $1.8 billion expansion, adding 900,000 sf of new laboratory and office space, along with additional parking, amenities, and infrastructure to support research and development.

Marian Spencer Hall at the University of Cincinnati was designed using 20 years of data about the size, orientation, and distribution of various spaces in 20 residence halls. The upshot: Residence halls are not just places for students to sleep. They can set the tone for their ability to study, socialize, and engage with the campus community that will be their home for years. How well the facility achieves that balance can help determine a student’s academic success.

The vision of biomedical research as a collective effort is resoundingly clear in the $237.5 million Pelotonia Research Center, the first building to be completed in the 350-plus-acre Carmenton district on the campus of The Ohio State University (Ohio State) in Columbus. Opened in May 2023, the center integrates almost 100,000 sf of wet labs, 25,000 sf of computational labs, and 20,000 sf of core labs in a single facility designed to host interdisciplinary collaborations and public-private initiatives that focus on solving some of the most critical health challenges. With life science as the backbone of the research endeavor, current projects range from modeling cancer progressions to 3D printing of patient-specific anatomic models. 

Geisinger Health System is meeting an increased demand for surgical procedures by partnering with Opmed.ai to unlock the full potential of its operating rooms. Headquartered in Danville, Pa., Geisinger serves over a million people across the state with ten hospital campuses. Representing a pivotal step for the integration of leading-edge AI technologies into medical operations and care, Opmed.ai announced the successful first results of the implementation of its advanced OR management platform in October of 2024.

Understanding space utilization in today’s hybrid academic world is essential to creating a positive, productive work environment for students, faculty, and staff. A nationwide study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics shows 53% of students are enrolled in at least one online class. Universities are rethinking their priorities, ensuring their technology and environments address both in-person and online learning with a modern system for managing space usage. University leaders can make better space management decisions by gathering data relevant to how their spaces are used, including how many rooms and desks are available and how often they are used, how rooms are assigned, and how the stakeholders rate their overall experience.

Carilion Clinic broke ground in late October of 2024 on the Taubman Cancer Center in Roanoke, Va. Designed by HDR, the $100 million facility will embody a fundamental shift in the delivery of oncology services. The six-story, 257,000-sf building will accommodate the needs of an increasing number of patients, who will benefit from direct access to precision medicine, sophisticated clinical trials, and leading-edge instrumentation.

Virginia Commonwealth University needed new space for math and science classes. When prototypes and stakeholder feedback indicated the student experience was top priority, they changed their planned two-stage facility to a single STEM building focused on making it easier for students to learn in the ways that suit them best, with spaces designed to break down barriers between faculty and students.

A $139 million project to expand the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia (UVA) will provide cutting-edge business education well into the future by offering students the best technological resources, on-site and remote learning environments, and a variety of spaces to collaborate and socialize. The construction of a new 80,000-sf structure and renovation of a historic building, both slated for completion in March 2025, will grow McIntire beyond the 156,000 sf of space it has called home since 2008. The hub of buildings addresses a space deficit and creates a growing commerce complex, providing a link between the university, its students, and nearby business districts.

The General Services Administration (GSA) completed construction on Building 53 at the Denver Federal Center in September of 2024. Designed by Gensler, the complex project involved the transformation of almost 200,000 sf in a 1940s-era structure into a modern and collaborative office environment. The sustainable facility collocates five federal agencies:

Lehigh University's new Health, Science & Technology Building is designed to break down silos between academic departments, to enhance faculty research and better prepare students for tomorrow’s transdisciplinary world. Three different lab modules—with no walls between them—facilitate easy transitions from one use to another, as well as expansion and contraction as needs change. And collaboration spaces are strategically located between labs throughout the building.

Prior to the development of a master plan for expansion of research facilities at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder), campus facility planners conducted a 15-month strategic visioning initiative that resulted in the creation of a digital space planning and visualization tool called PREVIEW.

Ground was broken in October of 2024 on WORKBENCH, a sustainable office building in Austin, Texas. Designed by Dick Clark + Associates (DC+A) and built by Swinerton, the 50,000-sf facility will serve as a showcase for the utilization of mass timber and cross-laminated timber in the built environment. It is estimated that the mixed-use development will store approximately 500 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

When Wayne State University in Detroit released its campus plan—the Wayne Framework—in 2018, no one could have guessed how prophetic the school’s new approach would turn out to be. Rather than creating a campus plan that sets a specific schedule of chronological tasks and building projects, the Wayne Framework instead focuses on how the school should evaluate priorities on an ongoing basis, allowing the facilities department to remain flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. Within a few years of launching the Framework, those circumstances would include a global pandemic, catastrophic flooding, and numerous university leadership changes.

The idea of a workplace means something very different today than it did five years ago. Even before the pandemic, offices were not at full capacity. While occupancy rates have rebounded from their low point in 2020, commercial building spaces are now being used only about 30% of the time. That reality creates an opportunity to rethink what the remaining office space looks like. Employees want a reason to leave the comfort of their homes and endure the commute to the office. They are looking for purposeful presence.