Master Plans

Wellesley’s Multiple-Architect Approach to Campus Renewal Accelerates Implementation

Granular Plan Preparation Counters Cost Escalation

Published 3-11-2015

Just one year after Wellesley College trustees approved a long-term campus renewal plan, the college had three projects in construction and six in design. In all, some $137 million worth of work, roughly 25 percent of the total plan, is currently underway, thanks to Wellesley’s bold approach: At once sweeping and granular, the process departed from traditional master planning by employing multiple architecture firms and incorporating up front many activities typically not seen months or even years into the design workstream.

UTMB Builds Hard Data into Framework for Capital Investment Decision-Making

Tools to Use: Space Utilization, Facility Gap Analysis, and Facility Condition Index

Published 2-11-2015

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) has crafted a decision-making framework based on objective standards to identify and pursue the highest priorities in a massive building boom that has roughly 95 projects valued from $10,000 to $450 million currently under construction. While a large part of that activity stems from the university’s long-range master plan, a significant portion was necessitated by the devastation of Hurricane Ike, which took 1.2 million sf of the medical school’s Galveston campus out of service in 2008. 

Flexible Lab Design Based on Researcher "Phenotype"

A Focus on Users Yields Space that Remains Relevant Over Time

Published 9-17-2014

Though it sounds counter-intuitive, trying to customize flexibility in research spaces may actually inhibit the intended outcome in the long term, according to Niraj Dangoria, associate dean of facilities planning and management at Stanford School of Medicine, and David Bendet, associate principal at Perkins+Will Architects. Designers should focus instead on the people and modularity, even when future research needs are uncertain and can change rapidly.

Strategic Facility and Space Planning for Science and Research

April 20-21, 2015
Scottsdale, AZ

The new wave of strategic planning for science and research facilities involves decision-making on everything from facility modernization and expansion, asset allocations, new standards for research work environments, competitive and economical science teaching spaces, and efficient and flexible infrastructure, to new models for operating costs, economic capital investments, and profitable institutional alliances and partnerships.  At this conference you’ll learn how new strategic plans for science and research facilities are successfully being developed and implemented to address these top strategic planning issues.