Space Use

A post-occupancy evaluation for a new engineering facility at the University of Kansas (KU) illuminates the ways physical space influences STEM students’ experiences, and sets new standards for effectively studying project outcomes. According to Tim Reynolds, a principal with the Science & Technology studio of national architecture firm TreanorHL, “Too often, post-occupancy evaluations tend to be rather shallow—focused on things like lighting and furniture rather than actual program experience.

Getting the most out of workspace is no longer a matter of cramming in more cubicles. Increasingly, organizations are seeking to adapt their spaces to the ways people actually work and what makes them engaged and productive. Gone are the days when people sat at a desk for eight hours, with breaks for lunch and coffee. In some workplaces, people work at “their” desks for less than a third of their work time.

The vision of “work anywhere, anytime” that accompanied the rise of the Internet is now firmly entrenched in reality, and static office seating is on its way to becoming a rarity. Employees can choose among conference or collaboration rooms, private “phone booths,” lounges, or coffee bars, all in the course of a single work day. A plethora of mobile apps easily handles functions like finding an available desk in real-time, booking a meeting room, specifying A/V set-up, controlling lights and HVAC, preparing visitor badges, even placing a catering order. Automated wayfinding can pinpoint a colleague’s whereabouts in the building and provide directions to the location. All these tasks don’t exist in isolation. The technology that makes them possible, like sophisticated motion sensors and cameras, is constantly feeding data into centralized space management systems that can do everything from scheduling restroom cleaning according to usage to calculating a building’s occupancy cost per employee.

College and University directives targeting student life, engagement, knowledge transfer, discovery, and resource utilization are transforming capital project priorities and initiatives, space plans, and campus planning decisions on all types of buildings and space.  We’d like your opinion on the specific facility and campus initiatives that your institution (or your clients) will be investing in. We'll compile the survey results and return them to you so you can compare your priorities with the top issues that others are focusing on.

University professionals click here to begin the survey. 

Consultants, service providers, and product vendors click here to begin the survey. 

As academic institutions seek to bolster their competitiveness with new STEM capabilities, a fundamental early project question is whether an existing building can be renovated or new construction is necessary. The answer can have as much to do with shifting program priorities or campus culture as it does with infrastructure or cost—and it may not be obvious at the outset.

As interdisciplinary team research and translational medicine become increasingly critical to advancing medical treatment of complex diseases, information itself—the visualization, shared storage, analysis, and harnessing of data—is becoming the most important driver in scientific research. The resulting shift to a higher ratio of dry (computational) space versus wet labs is forcing building designers to examine new ways to foster an open, collaborative culture while accommodating computational science needs.

A dynamic, forward-looking partnership between the University of Michigan Medical School and the A. Alfred Taubman Health Sciences Library has transformed a relatively hidden, introverted, and utilitarian 1970s book repository into a vibrant 21st century learning hub. But the original goal of this $55 million renovation project was much more modest than a whole-building transformation: It was simply to improve the medical student lounge, a windowless basement space that with each passing year had become less inviting to prospective and current students, as other medical schools improved their student-life spaces.

Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (DLMP) has relocated and consolidated three laboratories—Endocrine, Toxicology and Drug Monitoring, and the Proteomics Core Mass Spectrometry Development Lab (CMSL)—into a singular core mass spectrometry laboratory. The two-story, 65,000-gsf addition to the Superior Drive Support Center (SDSC) is 10 to 15 minutes from Mayo Clinic’s downtown Rochester, Minn., campus.

Combining wireless sensor networks with custom mobile apps to create interactive “sentient buildings” and smart community spaces has the potential to significantly impact the future of facility design in higher education, healthcare, research, and other sectors where increased collaboration and space efficiency are crucial.

• Major Trends in Research Facility Planning and Design
• NIH Receives a $2 Billion Funding Boost
• The Next-Next Generation Workplace
• Intel Designs Next Generation Workplace for Recruitment and Retention
• Transforming Existing Spaces into Active Learning Classrooms  
• Future Proofing Vivarium Space Through Flexible Design
• University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s New Space Allocation System
• “Super Lab” Improves Student Learning, Challenges Faculty Adaptability
• Maker Spaces: The Bridge Between Higher Education and Industry
• UPenn Replaces the HVAC System of a Fully Occupied, Operational Chemistry Facility

The technology-driven ability to work virtually from anywhere at any time is changing the way workspace is designed and utilized. The growing practice of allowing employees to work from remote locations means as much as 50 percent of total office workspace could be unoccupied at any given time, resulting in wasted money in leasing and operating costs.

The University of North Dakota’s new School of Medicine and Health Sciences building in Grand Forks transforms medical and health sciences education in the state by creating a shared, collaborative learning environment, collocating for the first time the programs of medicine, basic science, medical lab science, physician assistant, sports medicine, public health, and occupational and physical therapy.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals’ new home in Cambridge, Mass., has 40,000 sf of high-tech biology and chemistry labs, along with four distinct space types to accommodate the work modes of its staff: focus, collaboration, learning, and social engagement. The new 130,000-rentable-square-foot headquarters, known by its address, 125 Binney Street, in the heart of the Kendall Square life science community, stands in marked contrast to the company’s existing facility, less than two miles away.

The new 320,000-sf Knight Cancer Institute research building currently being built by Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) on the south waterfront in Portland, Ore., will maximize scientific collaboration for more than 500 researchers through the use of flexible floorplans, shared equipment cores, and new ratio configurations for wet and dry lab space.

Organizations of all types are using location-based social media data and other user-generated information to improve workspace design and functionality. By researching occupancy data, user satisfaction ratings, and other metrics, facility designers are finding smarter ways to lower costs and create efficiencies. While some organizations mine existing trace data automatically generated by mobile devices and building management systems, others are developing customized platforms dedicated to capturing key information.