Sessions

Capital budgets are shrinking, enrollment is shifting, and accreditation requirements aren't getting simpler. For many institutions, adding square footage isn't an option—but standing still isn't either. This session presents a phased space planning framework developed at ASU's Design School that uses utilization data and targeted renovation to align space, programming, and fundraising priorities without overcommitting capital too early. Where institutions often struggle most—student belonging and revenue generation—makerspaces and student hubs become strategic tools, not just amenities. Presenters deliver transferable strategies for coordinating space across on-campus and online populations while keeping near-term decisions in sync with longer-term institutional goals.

Knowledge workers often view open office spaces as noisy, distracting, and incompatible with focused work.  This session explores why that perception exists—and why one-size-fits-all office models consistently fail knowledge-intensive roles. David George examines how Activity-Based Working can be utilized to create workplace configurations to support deep concentration and cognitive performance. Drawing on real-world research and workplace data, he outlines practical design strategies tailored to introverted, analytical, and research-driven teams. Attendees will leave with clear, evidence-based principles for creating flexible workplaces that genuinely support heads-down work, as well as collaborative spaces, avoid the pitfalls of generic layouts, and deliver measurable benefits for both employees and the organization.

Early project decisions on spatial layout will determine the long-term productivity and relevance of technically complex facilities in healthcare, research, and education sectors. New technology is now enabling project teams to test-fit, optimize, and validate “expert intuitions,” and this session illustrates how to apply it to renovation and new construction initiatives to get the best project outcomes. Presenters chart a robust process that simulates occupant behavior and generates critical performance metrics to support data-driven facility planning decisions. They illustrate the effects of digital twin technologies and space syntax algorithms to improve space efficiency, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness in real-world projects involving complex environments.

This session examines the intersection of corporate workplace strategies with high-impact higher ed campus environments. Grace Johnson and John Roberson demonstrate a cross-industry innovation framework that applies employee engagement principles to student and faculty experiences to foster collaboration, inspire connection, and adapt to shifting campus needs. Through real examples, they illustrate how strategic technology integration enables seamless transitions between uses — classrooms become event venues, collaboration zones transform into storytelling showcases. They deliver techniques for designing environments that feel personalized to each user group while maintaining multi-functionality. They highlight how leading institutions are elevating existing space value through purposeful design choices that foster engagement and narrative connection, aligning campus facilities with institutional goals for flexibility and experience.

As workplace expectations shift toward personalization, organizations struggle to deliver individualized experiences at scale without overwhelming their facility and IT teams. This presentation examines the convergence of AI, smart buildings, and workplace software platforms that enable mass customization. Sanjiv Singh demonstrates how for employees, AI adapts the workplace to individual roles, behaviors, and preferences by optimizing space utilization, environmental comfort, workflows, learning paths, and well-being support. He also illustrates how for visitors, algorithmic systems streamline access, navigation, and engagement through intelligent visitor management, predictive analytics, and real-time personalization. He charts what is available today and what the future could hold using relevant use cases.

Organizations sign leases, select systems, and commit to workplace designs under pressure while uncertainty looms. This session identifies five traps that force organizations to spend 30-40% of their investment undoing recent decisions. Magaret Serrato reveals real-world examples where smart institutions fell into these traps and demonstrates scenario planning frameworks that protect against multiple futures. She delivers specific warning signs that signal each trap before resources are committed, provides data-driven language for advocating with leadership when decisions drive toward these pitfalls, and equips space planners with immediately applicable decision frameworks. Rather than predicting an unpredictable future, she shows how to design workplace strategies that remain viable across multiple outcomes, reducing risk while maintaining flexibility for RTO, hybrid work, and evolving space utilization goals.

Selecting the wrong Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) can waste budget and undermine workplace strategy before it even launches. In this session, Michael Meiran provides a strategic framework for matching platform capabilities to specific hybrid, unassigned, or activity-based workplace vision. He shares evaluation criteria distinguishing which occupancy analytics, space booking functions, and cost management tools support organizational goals versus generic industry features. He examines how leading organizations assess platform fit against employee preferences and performance requirements to drive adoption. He delivers decision-making tools to confidently select IWMS solutions aligned with distinct workplace culture and strategic objectives, avoiding costly missteps.

Thompson Rivers University faced enrollment volatility, declining international students, and budget pressure—but lacked the data to make defensible space decisions. TRU deployed high-granularity occupancy tracking to replace assumptions with metrics leadership could trust. The data revealed underutilized space within permanent buildings, validated hybrid work and unassigned seating strategies, and enabled consolidation of administrative functions while eliminating reliance on temporary modular facilities. Crystal Schock and Matt Boyd walk through TRU's utilization framework, how it connected to master planning and financial stewardship, and how institutions can apply the same approach to optimize space, reduce costs, and build board-ready cases for footprint management.

Organizations managing complex manufacturing and process environments face mounting pressures: evolving production requirements, multimodal operations, limited staffing, and competitive timelines. Presenters demonstrate the application of Design Research modeling to reveal operational bottlenecks, workflow conflicts, and misaligned assumptions before equipment arrives or construction begins. This cross-disciplinary panel demonstrates how process mapping translates into smarter space planning—improving adjacencies, identifying layout inefficiencies, and supporting scalable facility design. They guide attendees through interactive polling on simplified modeling scenarios, comparing audience assessments with real-world outcomes. They share challenges they have navigated around assumptions, strategies they have used to convert insights into design decisions, and using modeling to support long-term flexibility. They illustrate how structured analysis informs decisions across planning, design, and operations—transforming abstract data into actionable facility improvements.

As AI reshapes every dimension of work—from autonomous delivery to ambient intelligence—the pressure on workplace planners to respond and adapt is relentless. Omar Ramirez challenges planners to resist the reflex: the competitive edge in an AI-saturated workplace won't come from more technology—it will come from spaces designed for human connection. Research consistently links connected employees to higher retention, stronger collaboration, and greater innovation—outcomes no algorithm delivers on its own. He examines how the technology adoption curve is migrating from digital systems into physical space, presents analog space strategies that prioritize human interaction, and explores how friction—applied deliberately—becomes a powerful design lever. He also offers metrics for measuring success beyond utilization rates. In this interactive session, he equips participants to build the case—and the blueprint—for workplaces where human connection becomes a measurable performance driver.