The Northwestern University 12-story, 625,000-sf Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center’s research workplace is designed to form new connections and accelerate discovery in the study of cancer, heart disease, and neurodegenerative disorders. A flexible research neighborhood strategy creates a vibrant hub to bring together physicians, scientists, and engineers, and attract the best minds in research worldwide. Eric Boberg sets out details of the building’s scientific core facilities, labs for biomedical engineering, developmental biology, human molecular genetics, immunology, and regenerative medicine, and the faculty and administrative office model. He identifies space planning considerations for multi-organization shared facilities.

To regain control over research space and equipment fleets, step one is to harness actual use data and avoid "under-informed"decisions. Bill Bullock lays out a process to identify underutilized and obsolete research assets through a combination of manual old school and cutting edge digital tools for data and insights, and leverage the results to consolidate, centralize, and standardize tools and square footage, balance workloads, avoid unnecessary capacity increases, and reduce operating expense. He illustrates BMS' scalable approach in breaking down silos and increasing flexibility, and the positive effect on lab designs, space standards, and user expectations.

The 560,000-square-foot LEED Silver Medical and Research Translation building at Stony Brook University is the biggest medical sciences building to be built at a SUNY campus in decades, setting a strong foundation for the science programs of tomorrow. Glen Itzkowitz provides an armchair tour of the building’s future-facing facility capabilities including rationales for decisions on freezer farm capacity and efficiency investments, research support space, GMP capabilities, biopharmaceutical production facilities, cyclotron, and a mix of wet/dry research space, all of which define the next generation of modular, modern, and efficient research facilities.

A large-scale renovation project for University of Toronto Mississauga has addressed critical facility issues including back-up power, updated electrical power, air handling, installation of high-efficiency fume hoods, and core facilities for cell culture and microscope work – all to give a 1970’s-era building modern research capabilities. Stepanka Elias examines project management strategies employed to facilitate fast-track upgrades in an active research environment with little swing space, and specific technology and sustainability investments that are delivering significant improvements in the research workplace environment and energy efficiency.

The pressure to make good on climate commitments is increasing, but moving toward a lower-energy-use operating model is a daunting task for research-heavy organizations – especially those doing research in older facilities. Ken Potts presents Mayo Clinic’s progress toward climate change goals, how it is tackling the challenge in its existing research portfolio and how it is reshaping the next generation of Mayo buildings. He illustrates facility operation, user engagement, and equipment procurement strategies, highlights lessons learned, and examines how a new research building is being designed to incorporate Energy Use Intensity (EUI) planning and best practices.

Here you’ll see the what modular construction methods can do for modernized research facility capital initiatives – making demanding sites feasible, shortening project timelines, and reducing cost. Alex Kogan delivers a case study of Rockefeller University’s 160,000-sf Kravis Research Building, part of a campus expansion which spans a 6-lane highway in New York City. He details the 21st-century project delivery strategies employed, and the out-of-the-box solutions for major hurdles. He illustrates the results: cutting-edge research space that allows for growth and contraction of research groups; for future modifications to accommodate program change; and for cost-effective standardized laboratory fit-out components that can be reasonably customized by each user.

This closing session is where key ideas, new developments, and findings that have been revealed over the course of the entire two-day conference (including sessions you may have missed) get clarified, expanded upon, and affirmed or debated. This is also the opportunity to get answers from industry leaders and the entire audience to specific questions on key and challenging issues.  

The demand for research program space is intensifying as organizations are pressed for lab capacity to compete in the world of limited research dollars. In this session, EYP provides near-term alternatives to multi-year, capital-intensive new construction initiatives by employing strategic modernizations and renovations to modernize existing facilities and satisfy immediate demand. They examine methods for setting user expectations and engagement throughout the design, managing costs, and effectively balancing mission and goals for research. They detail lessons learned and workarounds for existing facility and building system limitations, and examine new swing space and phasing strategies.

Rapid technological innovation is driving disruptive change in advanced research initiatives and new planning data is in high demand. In this session, Jack Paul examines emerging research themes requiring more complex infrastructure and capacity for biomedical labs, life science imaging, simulated environments for AI, and full-scale testing of robotics and autonomous systems. He outlines new design and operational considerations for shared resources, and identifies trans-institutional models for renovation, relocation, and new construction initiatives. He profiles recent examples from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, SLAC Arrillaga Science Center, University of Michigan, and Vanderbilt University.

Research facilities dating back to the 60’s and 70’s are now seriously limiting science program competitiveness and recruitment initiatives, and deciding on revitalization strategies, scopes, and budgets should be top priority. In this case study of UT Austin’s recently-completed Welch Hall renovation, Sarah Lindenfeld and Dean Appling chart the science facility master plan development and implementation and night-and-day transformational results -- including highly efficient lab layouts, flexibility, MEP system upgrades, and allocation of dedicated high-performance and multi-function science space. They demonstrate how a “flavors of research technology” organizing model achieves science program, scope, and cost targets.

The recently opened Merck Discovery Science Center in San Francisco leverages new operational strategies to support more efficient use of real estate and a reduction in space assignments for support functions. Session leaders examine solutions beyond flexible, open labs to include mixing science groups in labs, shared core facilities, optimized equipment models, just-in-time delivery, centralized distribution systems, and software solutions for operational streamlining. They illustrate the space saving impacts and design features supporting the requisite operational shift, compare metrics with a similar program but older design Merck facility, and address planning assumptions versus real life -- what is and isn't working as predicted.

Advanced research facilities must now adapt to a variety of science programs and space demands; however the current-best-wisdom generic flexible labs can fall short of accommodating unique programs with highly specialized needs. In this session, Stantec examines research facilities solutions required for wet research labs, organic chemistry, physics dry labs, and computational labs, and bespoke infrastructure for space including plant growth, vivaria, insectary, aquatics, and imaging. They detail plans and metrics for shared scientific work environments, and systems to accommodate technical requirements such as temperature/humidity control, vibration isolation, and biocontainment.

Emory University faces the same challenges as many institutions: How to manage energy and water use across a diverse building portfolio including resource-demanding research facilities. For the 340,000-sf Health Science Research Building II, project stakeholders are expanding traditional owner/architect/engineer boundaries to achieve ambitious sustainability goals. Session leaders examine the water-energy nexus and strategies to reduce consumption while delivering cutting edge science capabilities. They demonstrate an advanced integrated design model that minimizes energy consumption from the outside; optimizes site, energy, water, human health and wellness performance; and analyze costs, EUI impact, WUI impact, system sizing/elimination, operational impact, and other qualitative benefits or deterrents. 

What capital investments are leading institutions making now to reap the benefits of collaborative research cultures long into the future? Session leaders illustrate how to create well-defined strategic goals and link them to research facility solutions to ensure success of their research programs. They identify nuances of planning and design process that can determine research cultures, and they compare and contrast established interdisciplinary capital projects that have transformed each institution's mission. They highlight key decision points, user engagements, and timelines for integrating new organizational structures.

Mounting pressure on construction costs will impact all research projects on the drawing boards and in the pipeline. Attend this session to see new pathways to better pricing and more accurate budget figures. James Vermeulen and Mike Khatib deliver construction cost forecasts based on economic conditions, commodity prices, and cost data from more than 100 projects. Using analyses of equities, GDP, and construction labor markets, they illustrate what to expect for construction pricing on a regional basis for the next two years. They profile what organizations are doing to develop bid and purchasing strategies that lock in costs and reduce risk.

Renewables will continue to replace fossil fuels in your organization’s primary/second energy mix, and two fundamental yet related changes will profoundly disrupt future research building designs: 1) shifting from distributed steam to distributed hot water, and 2) transitioning towards all-electric buildings. In this session, AEI details the implications of this transition for your upcoming projects and how to make forward-looking plan changes to accommodate them. They demonstrate re-alignment of lab designs with alternative heat sources and examine new strategies to consider for process loads including sterilization and rack washing. 

Gene and cell therapy facilities are in your future - both new projects and expansions – and this session is the catch-all data analytics haven for developing your plans for gene and cell therapy space. Utilizing data from over 200 completed projects, session leaders identify the key strategic planning inputs needed for bottom-up assessment of existing/expected capacity and utilization, validating assumptions, and establishing metrics for modeling multiple planning scenarios. They demonstrate easy to understand graphical summaries, compelling high-level analyses, and required backup data that will provide a solid foundation for a strategic facility plan for these technically demanding facilities. 

Which research workplace considerations will give your organization the competitive edge in the race for recruiting skilled research and technology professionals? Stephanie Mitrovic and Diane Kase examine shifting workforce demographics, industry and academic disruptors, multigenerational preferences and demands, changing work cycles, and workforce readiness factors that should be radically altering plans for research space and user experience. They discuss what leading organizations are now putting into place to attract, retain, and inspire talent, and create an engaged, collaborative and interdisciplinary culture for future science professionals.

Building density continues to increase and laboratories are expanding vertically with new solutions for development, fit-out, and renovation of highly complex lab space within the upper floors of high-rise buildings. Iain Siery and Matt Decker review solutions for providing flexible and collaborative lab environments in high-rise buildings including navigating code / life safety issues, layout considerations, and blending functional areas. They examine adaptable base-building infrastructure, the integration of tenant specialty systems, and methods to find the appropriate balance of laboratory, laboratory support, office, and mechanical spaces within an established building core and shell.

Electron beam lithography, electron microscopes, and emerging ultra-precision instruments are becoming critical for the success of nanotech, materials, and life science research programs and facilities, and building vibration is a potential program killer you need to get ahead of! Steve Ryan details how to plan for the extremely low-vibration environments demanded by nanoscale and other advanced research spaces, including passive vibration isolation, massive isolated plinths, and point-of-use inertial active vibration control pedestals. He examines case studies of new construction and renovations at Oregon Health & Sciences University, MIT.Nano, and the New York Structural Biology Center. 

The benefits of "science on display" are evident in engaging campus populations, but new methods to engage a larger, constantly refreshed public population provide even greater outreach and engagement potential. Session leaders will examine the effects of co-locating two dynamic programs -- research labs and science-based museums -- to facilitate connections between university researchers and the public while also encouraging collegial interaction among science departments. They demonstrate what a “neighborhood” approach can deliver in terms of accommodating a variety of research needs and illustrate solutions for engaging the public while creating efficient, flexible, and secure spaces for graduate level science. 

Before embarking on new research capital projects involving highly sensitive imaging equipment and ion-beam research instruments, attend this session to get new solutions for the Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) problems that could otherwise cripple science programs. Levi Mecham calls upon recent projects that included NION, KRIOS with GIF and other EMI-challenging ion-beam research instruments to demonstrate alternative shielding strategies that deliver equal protection at lower cost. He examines site specific solutions and room design recommendations for mitigating magnetic fields emanating from ramping magnetics, DC electrified trains, moving elevators, diesel trains, vehicles, and all ferromagnetic masses in motion.