Sessions

How can the design of an education building allow students to take more ownership over their educational success, create a sense of belonging, and form strong relationships between faculty, staff, and students?  This session explores the post-occupancy evaluation results of a recently completed adaptive reuse project. Session leaders demonstrate how qualitative and quantitative data from the perspectives of faculty, staff, and students reveal how the utilization and effectiveness of the space supports learning and occupant wellness, and how the pandemic impacted the use of the building. They detail important considerations for designing and managing flexible, multi-purpose spaces.

A top priority for space planning and space management groups – across all industries – is getting accurate data to inform occupancy decisions and the move to new hybrid workplace models. This session offers an example of how that can be achieved with a combination of technology and software. Sue Bork and Mason Bowen demonstrate how Eastern Tennessee University leveraged the existing Wi-Fi network and sensor technology to see and understand occupancy patterns in an entirely new way. They illustrate how the resulting data enabled them to view actual vs. booked spaces, identify underutilized spaces, and make critical staffing and operations decisions which directly impact the bottom line.

New hybrid workplace models for a more transient workforce are allowing organizations to unlock higher levels of space utilization, flexibility, and workforce engagement, and here you’ll see the latest workplace design solutions embraced by corporate, government, and academic entities. The Stantec team examines benchmarks and change management strategies for highly efficient, responsive, and productive space inventories. They identify critical steps for creating qualitative and quantitative strategies, scenario planning and gap analysis, developing and implementing new space ratios and standards, concept testing and iteration processes, and occupant satisfaction measurement. They illustrate employee engagement and bottom-line benefits of closer alignment of facilities with current and future workforces.

Improved flexibility, functionality, and space utilization are three of the top priorities for institutional leadership, faculty, and students, and this session sets out a process to meet these goals in your next project. Session leaders highlight two case studies to demonstrate new robust stakeholder engagement strategies that lead to space sharing, collaboration, and multivalent space use at community colleges and vocational institutions. They demonstrate how space and scheduling needs reveal areas of possible collaboration, sharing, and cross-programming, and they illustrate space planning strategies that utilize enrollment and utilization analysis tools to shape more impactful space programs.

The workplace landscape has shifted dramatically, and many organizations are pivoting their office portfolios toward hybrid workspaces that meet the specific needs of their teams, employees, and communities. But the transition to a hybridized office is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. In this presentation, Melissa Marsh examines the critical importance of testing and validating design assumptions before scaling solutions. She sets out metrics and criteria that companies can use to evaluate their post-COVID real estate portfolio decisions, uplift their workforce, and maximize the potential of their space. She explores the big idea behind the hybrid workplace and how it manifests in the context of management, support, communications, and technology. 

The shift in demand towards premier, Class A, amenity-rich work environments is generating hospitality-inspired “destination” facilities that foster creative ecosystems, support hybrid work models and create a compelling experience. Gable Clarke and Adrienne Erdman deliver a case study of tech-company Cambridge Consultants’ new Boston office, illustrating the importance of understanding user motivations and goals. From flexible furniture and diverse workstations to wellness, productivity, and culture they examine the alignment of project objectives with existing infrastructure, and how to support the myriad of personal, team, spatial and technological needs of today’s employees.

In this session, Chris Morett identifies practical approaches to mitigate risks to accessibility arising from the transition from assigned workplace seating to a free address model -- where individuals work in variable locations and activities with a shifting array of colleagues. He examines a range of individual characteristics - including physical, sensory, and neurological - that should inform the design and allocation of space to achieve an accessible workplace. He also highlights how organizations can leverage hybrid work to better reflect individual preferences and needs, and how addressing challenges and opportunities promises increased worker productivity, satisfaction, well-being, and retention.

The "post-pandemic world" has accelerated the need for Facilities Management and Space Management teams across all industries to reassess and devise new strategies for managing their organization's workspace strategy. In this session, leaders describe a framework developed by the UHN FM-PRO team that identifies the essential elements used to best manage space, and the elements that informed the type of hybrid workplace model to implement. They examine specific examples of hybrid models implemented at UHN to illustrate the framework elements and processes, and detail how change management is the confluence of the various framework elements and processes.

In this session you’ll see the transformative power of Building Information Modeling (BIM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), Digital Twins, and the emerging role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in managing the lifecycle of buildings. Session leaders illustrate from a BIM Execution Plan to final handover, how these technologies can lead to significant cost savings,  improved outcomes for building owners and rapidly changing potential in facility room and asset management. They examine a case study from the largest higher education district in the U.S. and engage participants in an interactive scenario that delivers fresh insights and practical, applicable knowledge.

Mistakes will be made. Well-intentioned ideas will be poorly received. The drawing board will be reviewed, revised and revisited. Eventually the 95% solution will emerge. The question is, how can that test-evaluate-iterate process be optimized to get the most valuable information in the shortest amount of time? Carolyn Cirillo profiles examples of workplace planning pilot studies of different scales across varied industries, and distills lessons learned and best practices for inculcating a “beta test” mindset and conducting valuable research. She illustrates the importance of learning to embrace failure as a necessary part of pushing the envelope on space use.

New academic priorities and hard state funding limitations are challenging university planners across North America to do more with less funding. In this session, presenters call upon a case study of the new School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland to illustrate new design strategies that improve space utilization, increase flexibility, and reduce cost through multi-purposed facility resources, communal space, and innovative learning and office environments. They examine the outcome and how it has become a destination weaving together far-flung campus stakeholders and competing priorities through a mix of ancient and modern design strategies.

With an unprecedented surge of interest in hybrid work and right-sizing strategies for research science settings comes a need for practical and scientifically proven metrics to monitor space effectiveness now and into the future. In this session, the Gensler team dissects the results of a third-party nationwide survey to reveal what space strategies drive positive researcher experience and productivity, and where there is opportunity for disruption. They detail the survey methodology and statistically meaningful findings around the themes of diversity and inclusion, (De)centralization, space layout, hybrid work, and lab researcher occupancy profiles.

The return to the office post-pandemic is characterized by a renewed focus on hybrid work models, workplace effectiveness, and a heightened emphasis on employee well-being, with HR, finance, facilities, and real estate leaders looking for ways to rationalize and refocus their workplaces. Brian Haines profiles Cloud + IoT solutions for creating a connected, integrated workforce experience anytime and everywhere with optimum productivity. Then Marte Byrne delivers a case study of how Allianz Life Insurance has leveraged the technology to develop a 30,000-sf “workplace of the future” prototype, and the insights and findings that will be relevant to any organization undertaking similar projects.

In a departure from legacy departmentally-assigned floorplans, AstraZeneca’s new consolidated workplace is organized around employee “personas” representing scientific typologies – an approach which better aligns space with mission and vision. Presenters profile the resulting programming solutions and workplace features including multi-purpose spaces for increased flexibility, a shared conferencing center, and interdepartmental core facilities. They illustrate how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) strategies have been integrated into this wellness-focused, LEED Platinum facility, and the change management strategies employed to aid workers in transitioning to an unassigned space model.