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Even before the COVID pandemic, many companies were looking to optimize space and decrease costs. Unum Group, an insurer with international operations, has taken a multi-pronged approach: reducing its on-campus footprint by creating one-size-fits-all work spaces, moving to flex-for-all seating, switching nearly half of its long-term off-campus leases to coworking rentals, and developing a Modo® Labs app for space utilization and company communication. The app offers real-time access to concierge services, online food ordering, and organizational information. In the United Kingdom, employees can also use the app to make seat reservations and ensure they have a desk when coming to the office.

The need for more space to accommodate a daily backlog of unwashed cages sparked a $40 million gut renovation of the two-building animal research facility on the campus of the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) in Bethesda, Md. When the conjoined structures reopen this fall, they will be fully equipped with up-to-date features that facilitate animal care compliance, promote employee satisfaction, and offer uber-flexibility.

Agile product development using scrum teams of nine to 12 people continues to be a popular approach for quickly delivering tangible project results in a fast-changing marketplace. Originally established in the late 1990s as a nimble project management framework for rapidly creating new software products, it has since become prevalent in a wide range of other sectors, including scientific research, architecture, telecommunications, media, finance, and emerging technologies.

Funding for life sciences is booming, causing a space demand surge in already tight markets across North America. Companies that are ramping up production or spinning out of university labs often lease space in new or in-progress buildings but can have trouble finding the perfect fit. Commercial building inventory, both built and under construction, consists mainly of office space with systems that are incompatible with modern research missions. Outside of a few biotech-focused cities—Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle, for example—it’s hard to find a developer that understands lab space needs, so a life sciences company might hire an architect to work with developers on a redesign. Space considerations include zoning constraints, floor-to-floor heights, minimum floor plate, and electrical capacity.

The Sixth Edition of the Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) manual emphasizes the importance of risk assessment and management, communication among all stakeholders, comprehensive procedures to report accidents and exposures, and a new focus on biocontainment of pathogens affecting agricultural animals. First published in 1984, the BMBL still serves as the cornerstone of biosafety practices for the safe conduct of research throughout the world.