Space Use

University Health Network of Toronto, Canada’s largest research healthcare system, increased space efficiency and improved employee morale by reengineering its practices and workspaces to accommodate a hybrid work model. Of the 6 million sf occupied by the network, 1 million sf was office space, 200,000 sf of which was used by people who could be hybrid workers. The transition required a concentrated change management strategy, an investment in technology, and a reconfiguration of space and the way it was managed.

Following a 2018 change in leadership at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the nation’s largest science and energy laboratory redefined how it views and manages its 4-million-plus-gsf space portfolio. In the shift from a landlord-tenant cost-recovery model managed by outside partners to a restructured internal space management organization, ORNL launched a wide-ranging initiative to improve utilization of existing space and increase transparency. Among the measures implemented were: creating a space authority in each of the lab’s eight research directorates; convening an annual space summit; walking down the entire space at least twice a year; and building an integrated workplace management system based on extensive data gathering. 

The University of Colorado Boulder saved a mid-century building from demolition by refurbishing it -- and funding it -- in stages. They continued to use the building as the students and faculty decided the best use for each space, overcoming issues of low floor-to-floor heights, inadequate mechanical systems, and asbestos. 

Philadelphia-based Genesis AEC was able to reduce the square footage of a new translational medicine center of excellence by more than half and cut cost estimates by 16%, by reviewing the client’s needs versus wants; using innovative design practices, including a first-of-its-kind firewall design; and applying the approach known as “engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM).” The facility for a U.S.-based multi-national pharmaceutical company opened on Sept. 1, 2023.

Princeton University's Environmental Studies and School of Engineering and Applied Science (ES+SEAS) project, scheduled for completion in 2025, stretches 1,700 feet along a narrow 17.5-acre site. The complex will provide 670,000 gsf of lab, office, and collaboration space for five of the university’s science and engineering entities in three interconnected, four-story structures and a Commons. The project is notable not only for its massive scale but for its focus on fostering connections within and among groups that work in many different ways. The design realizes the university’s vision of creating identity, community, collaboration, inspiration, flexibility, and efficiency in an environment whose hallmark is a rich variety of bespoke non-lab space configurations that follow uniform standards for everything from office dimensions to lounge furnishings.

In this white paper, researchers from brightspot, Buro Happold, and Occuspace used anonymized data from 38 universities to help answer questions about how library, fitness, dining, and office spaces are used, and how usage patterns vary. Together, these insights can help leaders in higher education make decisions about consolidating locations, shifting stacks to study space, optimizing adjacencies among different functions on a campus, incorporating student success functions within libraries, aligning fitness and dining operations with demands, and right-sizing the workplace to align with hybrid and remote work patterns.

Now that we know working from home works, how can employers entice workers back into the office? The answer lies in pilot studies and data analysis that focus on the collaborative, activity-based work spaces that make the commute worth their while.

The Richard King Mellon Hall of Sciences (RKM HoS), designed as a flexible, next-generation home for the future of science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), will enable researchers and students from across the university to interact on projects in the foundational sciences, computer sciences, machine learning, data analytics, and contemporary art.

A healthy work environment—with good air, good water, the right kind of light, and a comfortable temperature—is not just a nice-to-have perk. Studies show that attending to "cognitive ergonomics"—how a workspace impacts the occupants’ ability to think—can improve cognitive performance by as much as 50 percent.

Learn how Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., U.S.A., created a highly efficient research facility by employing design strategies—an open, flexible floorplan and shared core facilities—as well as operational functions, including just-in-time delivery of materials and integrated science groups. The result is a less siloed, more collaborative environment.

The evolution of space planning and utilization was kicked into overdrive during the COVID-19 pandemic, as everyone from private industry to higher education to government entities was forced to rethink who works where, and when. After three years of transition, organizations are now implementing innovative hybrid work scenarios and space utilization initiatives that reflect the new workplace landscape. The emerging solution is a hybrid work model that blends work-from-home with time spent at a shared physical work environment. That provides institutions the opportunity to make the most efficient use of the space they have, shed the facilities they don’t need, and focus on creating spaces that entice employees out of their home offices and back to the workplace.

Decisions about space size, type, and utilization must be based on data, but massive datasets can prove to be too much of a good thing if they are not translated into usable, understandable information. HDR's proprietary software, Data Wrangler, provides a platform for facilities planners, operators, and owners to visualize how data defines their spaces, and then manipulates that data in real time to demonstrate how to maximize the assets' potential. The result: Greater collaboration and faster decision-making.

Faced with a massive renovation and no swing space for 1,800 cages of "dirty" mice, the University of Missouri at Columbia opted to lease a pair of modular vivaria, install them in an underutilized warehouse, and switch to disposable cages. Researchers were prohibited from entering the viviaria, so cages were delivered directly to their labs. How well did it work? "I would do it again, 100 times,” says the university’s assistant director for research in the Office of Animal Resources.

When lockdown ended, many organizations saw the proven viability of telecommuting as a chance to reduce their real estate needs. Sandia National Laboratories seized the opportunity to use its work-from-home dividend to renovate its older buildings and update building amenities.

How do you measure the value of research? That’s the question many universities are contending with as they rethink and revise their master plans to reflect declining enrollments, a complex funding environment, and the realities of older facilities, amid competition for scarce resources. A fresh approach to space planning and benchmarking can help clarify the possibilities.