Alternative Work Styles

Though universities may update master plans every five or 10 years, many find planning works best when it is continual and flexible to accommodate program and leadership changes. A number of projects at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (HSC) in Fort Worth demonstrate the need to assess existing spaces and develop plans for growth and flexibility, as well as the benefits of building long-term relationships with architects and other vendors.

BioMed Realty is constructing a 637,000-sf life sciences facility in Cambridge for Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Designed by CBT Architects, the 16-story structure will provide advanced lab and office environments to accelerate the creation of innovative therapies and vaccines. Featuring flexible spaces to optimize in-person interaction and connection in a hybrid working model, the leased building furthers Takeda’s goal of unifying their Global R&D Center in Kendall Square.

The past few decades have brought myriad technological changes to our daily lives, and experts predict the pace of change will only increase—especially in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Much of the talk surrounding AI focuses on automating repetitive processes and analyzing data, which require additional computational power but not necessarily structural modifications. But emerging technologies, including AI and robotics, may require universities and companies to rethink their approach to designing and planning buildings and labs.

The vision of biomedical research as a collective effort is resoundingly clear in the $237.5 million Pelotonia Research Center, the first building to be completed in the 350-plus-acre Carmenton district on the campus of The Ohio State University (Ohio State) in Columbus. Opened in May 2023, the center integrates almost 100,000 sf of wet labs, 25,000 sf of computational labs, and 20,000 sf of core labs in a single facility designed to host interdisciplinary collaborations and public-private initiatives that focus on solving some of the most critical health challenges. With life science as the backbone of the research endeavor, current projects range from modeling cancer progressions to 3D printing of patient-specific anatomic models. 

Understanding space utilization in today’s hybrid academic world is essential to creating a positive, productive work environment for students, faculty, and staff. A nationwide study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics shows 53% of students are enrolled in at least one online class. Universities are rethinking their priorities, ensuring their technology and environments address both in-person and online learning with a modern system for managing space usage. University leaders can make better space management decisions by gathering data relevant to how their spaces are used, including how many rooms and desks are available and how often they are used, how rooms are assigned, and how the stakeholders rate their overall experience.

Lehigh University's new Health, Science & Technology Building is designed to break down silos between academic departments, to enhance faculty research and better prepare students for tomorrow’s transdisciplinary world. Three different lab modules—with no walls between them—facilitate easy transitions from one use to another, as well as expansion and contraction as needs change. And collaboration spaces are strategically located between labs throughout the building.

The idea of a workplace means something very different today than it did five years ago. Even before the pandemic, offices were not at full capacity. While occupancy rates have rebounded from their low point in 2020, commercial building spaces are now being used only about 30% of the time. That reality creates an opportunity to rethink what the remaining office space looks like. Employees want a reason to leave the comfort of their homes and endure the commute to the office. They are looking for purposeful presence.

JLL’s Global Future of Work survey has explored the evolving world of corporate real estate since 2011. This year, it analyzes the key priorities, challenges, and strategies of more than 2,300 professionals and decision-makers from around the wold. Recent insights show that companies are adopting a cautiously positive outlook in this increasingly dynamic and ambiguous environment. With plans to increase and rebalance organizational headcount in the coming years, many are ready to invest in their real estate as they expect to increase their budget and footprint.

The decreasing amount of time researchers spend in their labs is changing research facility design and space allocation, with an increased need for lab support space, a more significant reliance on core facilities, the creation of additional write-up and data analysis environments, and the purposeful inclusion of collaboration spaces.

Highly accurate badging data generated by workers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., is giving space planners and administrators powerful new insights for making more efficient space planning decisions in the post-pandemic era. As the nation’s largest Department of Defense University Affiliated Research Center, the 450-acre campus consists of nearly 4 million sf of space, including cutting-edge cybersecurity, spacecraft, and robotics facilities. Badging data from APL’s 8,000-plus workers provides detailed information for comparing projected space needs with the hybrid utilization behaviors established during the COVID-19 pandemic. These new data-driven insights are now being used to inform decision-making for high-cost capital construction projects and short-term space planning initiatives. 

When the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), began to develop a new vision for its historic urban campus, they knew they wanted a high level of stakeholder engagement. The team that came together to work on the academic and research building called on elements of Lean construction, including Gemba walks and journey mapping, as part of design thinking, to empower users to co-create the spaces in which they will work. The new facility—a 310,000sf space in a dense urban environment—is scheduled for completion in 2028.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is a highly collaborative organization at the forefront of both research and clinical care, with 20% of clinical faculty supporting research studies and 12,000 studies under way at any given time. A central paradigm of its translational research workplace is a “condo” model, where a group of investigators with a well-defined mission elect to share research space and equipment to foster collaboration and innovation. Now, a recent initiative is harnessing data in new ways to build upon and expand the power of the condo to advance Mayo Clinic’s mission for decades to come. 

Post-pandemic employees expect their workplaces to offer amenities similar to those they grew accustomed to while working from home: access to outdoor spaces, the opportunity to choose between working from home and in the office, areas for individual and team work, and the ability to focus on their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing with amenities such as a gym, quiet lounges with technological support for laptops, and nearby places to socialize.

The sudden pivot to virtual learning during the COVID pandemic has changed higher education for the foreseeable future. Interviews with more than 250 students, professors, and space planners at more than 100 campuses around the world reveal that 18- to 24-year-old students missed being on campus and are glad to be back. But they have changed; the institutions have changed; and campuses don’t quite fit anyone’s needs anymore. Learn the 10 insights from these interviews that can help shape the future of your campus design.

In March 2021, Citi CEO Jane Fraser announced a new hybrid work model requiring most Citi employees to work in the office at least three days per week. On the campus of Citi’s global operational headquarters, the recently completed renovation of a centrally located amenities building supports this initiative with a coworking environment incorporating a wider array of space types that support employees in face-to-face work during the time they spend on campus. And it’s having some unforeseen benefits, too.