Evidence before investment: Pilot projects to maximize renovation project value

As the value proposition of physical space shifts, renovation programs must increasingly reconcile fixed building footprints with evolving work patterns. Margaret Serrato draws on a multi-phase pilot program at Georgia Tech, where a constrained urban campus tested workplace approaches in instrumented pilot spaces before committing to larger capital investments. She traces the process from department selection through two rounds of post-occupancy evaluation, examining what the data reveals about satisfaction, institutional goal alignment, and space efficiency within physical constraints. She maps the decisions that de-risk capital investment through evidence-based workplace strategy.