Space Use

Paying a premium for the flexibility to remain truly generic can be both expensive and counterproductive to lab design goals, say the designers of the Wisconsin Institutes of Medical Research (WIMR) multi-phase project at the University of Wisconsin (UW). Instead, they increased space efficiency and density by walking a fine line between custom and generic lab design, with a modular framework that met certain parameters but could be adapted to the science conducted within the spaces.

To address space utilization and efficiency, especially in a research environment, the best way to make a case for change is with solid data that makes a compelling link to mission effectiveness, but institutions warehouse vast amounts of data that are often left untapped, says Donn Williams, director of facilities and real estate at RAND Corporation.

The strategic use of specialized doors and biocontainment cubicles in Weill Cornell Medical College’s new academic research facility maximizes flexibility by allowing the floor plan to be easily reconfigured for different levels of containment and program size.

London’s King’s College has tapped building information systems and financial data to maximize the use of space while reducing energy costs and carbon emissions by employing three strategies: leveraging shareable and flexible space, challenging assumptions about the need for individual offices, and having leaders set progressive examples for other staff. Efficiently planned and utilized spaces are inextricably linked with sustainability for growing academic institutions like King’s College, especially when the cost of property is expensive, according to architect and planner Ian Caldwell.

The University of Toronto, Mississauga, re-imagined its first-year biology teaching labs to update the space and encourage a more experiential learning environment that will hook students on biology and engage the entire building in what goes on there. They also need to accommodate classes of as many as 48 students, which their former space could not.

Increased workforce mobilization at eBay is driving leaner, more sophisticated models for space planning that utilize a less than one-to-one ratio of desks to employees to maximize efficiencies and reduce operational costs. The new approach, developed in response to analysis of employee badge data and other metrics, is designed to better support the needs of today’s technology-enhanced mobile workforce.

The Center for Care and Discovery, at the University of Chicago Medical Center, is dedicated to patient care and designed for flexibility. The massive 1.2 million-sf structure stands only 12 stories high, including two stories of mechanical space, but its footprint occupies the north side of two city blocks and spans the street between them.

Responding to the call to reinvent university science instruction, Virginia Tech’s new classroom building is poised to create “a bona fide learning revolution.” Slated for completion in 2016, the 73,400-sf facility will offer flexible, innovative teaching spaces that are “radically different” from anything previously seen on the Blacksburg campus, according to Jill Sible, assistant provost for undergraduate education at the largest producer of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) degrees in the state.

Color is the first thing your brain experiences in any environment, because the optic nerve connects the human eye directly to the cerebral cortex. Color has a deep subconscious influence on emotions, and studies have linked positive emotional states to improved decision-making, better memory function, greater job satisfaction, and creative problem solving. As a result, space planners are looking more than ever at how interior design colors influence mood and productivity in offices, labs, and classrooms.

Boston Medical Center (BMC) is responding to the changing healthcare climate with a new facilities master plan that will redesign clinical campus space and shrink total square footage in a way that reduces capital and operating expenses while improving efficiency. The plan includes a $300 million construction and renovation project that will consolidate the hospital’s two existing campuses while maintaining the same level of services. It also provides flexibility to add 1.2 million sf of space in the future, as needs arise.

To achieve the most viable, successful workspaces, companies need to look closely at the factors that most directly influence their work culture instead of following the latest design trends, according to Kay Sargent, director of workplace strategies at Lend Lease. No single workplace design fits every company, and a workspace should fit the people using it, as well as the organizational goals.

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) has crafted a decision-making framework based on objective standards to identify and pursue the highest priorities in a massive building boom that has roughly 95 projects valued from $10,000 to $450 million currently under construction. While a large part of that activity stems from the university’s long-range master plan, a significant portion was necessitated by the devastation of Hurricane Ike, which took 1.2 million sf of the medical school’s Galveston campus out of service in 2008. 

The renovated OB-GYN academic offices at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) eliminate private offices in favor of shared desks and open concept space, to accommodate a planned 20 percent staff increase while decreasing total departmental square footage. The department, which previously housed about 80 people in 14,000 sf, can now accommodate 106 people in 13,000 sf. The gut-and-rebuild also improves ADA compliance for the 1950s building and provides more natural light and collaborative space.

Facility managers can achieve optimal performance by “sweating their assets”—making existing assets work harder—through a careful analysis of what factors contribute to the highest throughput and then undertaking initiatives that will help them reach those goals. Doing so may eliminate the need to create expensive new space but may require facility redesign, says Cyrus Yang, executive director of delivery system planning for Kaiser Permanente.

Aiming to exit two leased facilities, backfill an owned building, and reunite departmental groups, Wells Fargo Bank successfully completed a two-year restack, consisting of approximately 40 projects that moved about 5,000 employees and touched roughly 1.1 million sf in seven Charlotte, N.C., facilities. A time-based migration planning process allowed Lori Ferguson, Wells Fargo senior properties project manager, and her team to keep the gargantuan task on track as it implemented the corporate strategy.