Latest Reports

In the concluding Open Forum/Town Hall session of Tradeline’s Space Strategies 2013 Conference, moderator Derek Westfall, president of Tradeline, and subject matter commentators Michael Sheeres, executive director of infrastructure for University Health Network; Nathan Corser, design principal at IDC Architects and a senior architect at its parent company, CH2M Hill; and Marte Byrne, senior facilities planner at Boston Scientific, led a knowledge exchange on specific question posed by conference attendees.

The nine-story, 325,000-sf Krembil Discovery Tower in Toronto features 170,000 sf of research laboratories on five-and-a-half floors, and houses 150 scientists from the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, Donald K. Johnson Eye Centre, and Buchan Arthritis Research Centre, as well as Altum Health and the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

The kind of technology prevalent in today’s health sciences education requires a robust infrastructure that must be figured into a facility’s design during the budgeting and planning stages. Virtual simulation, virtual anatomy, tablet computers, 3-D stereographic display, software tools for collaboration, and touch interaction with LCD monitors—even the tried-and-true classroom technology, such as whiteboards, videoconferencing, telephone conferencing, dual-image large screen projection, large screen LCD monitors, and connectivity for personal devices—all require thoughtful consideration.

The four-story, 102,000-sf Integrated Science Engineering Laboratory Facility (ISELF), the flagship of the St. Cloud State University science facilities, contains mostly science laboratories, with some classrooms, offices, and conference rooms. The primary entry to the facility is through a three-story atrium that provides a clear sense of wayfinding to the programs in the building.

Despite the considerable effort expended to incorporate inviting hallways and gathering spaces in the workplace, research shows that the most productive collaboration happens when at least one of the collaborators is sitting at a desk or conference table, says Margaret Gilchrist Serrato, Ph.D., senior workplace strategist for Herman Miller, Inc.