Space Use

A study of three academic medical centers constructed in 2009, 2014, and 2020 reveals little change in the square footage of research spaces over time but a radical change in how the square footage is being used. The result is research space that is more efficient, flexible, adaptable, and functional, with a higher percentage of space dedicated to lab support. The metrics gathered in this study can help guide lab planners as they look to the future.

With active learning classrooms, Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine was presented an opportunity to think differently about how to create spaces that support a different approach to instruction and interaction. Figuring out what works and what doesn’t in terms of acoustics, technology, lighting, and sightlines has demonstrated the importance of aligning the space—and the technology within it—with the pedagogy rather than the reverse.

Data from recent studies analyzing space utilization at colleges and universities across the country indicates a post-pandemic shift toward supporting hybrid education models that blend remote learning with in-person instruction. The studies were designed to analyze the impact of technology-intensive hybrid and experiential learning modalities on higher education while identifying key considerations, best practices, and metrics that can help space planners create more efficient, flexible environments that meet the needs of today’s students, faculty, and staff. Notably, in addition to an increased acceptance of remote learning, students and faculty also desire a return to in-person learning. This dichotomy is driving institutions to adapt hybrid education models that combine online education with active-learning classrooms that require sophisticated IT infrastructure and casual social environments that facilitate informal learning and collaboration.

Dubbed the "tree house," the Stanford Center for Academic Medicine blends into and incorporates its natural surroundings in a design that leaves the occupants feeling better after a full day of work than they felt when they arrived. Amenity spaces, a concierge desk staffed 24/7, small but private offices, and universal access to sunlight all contribute to the popularity of the Center.

In the 12 years between the conception and funding of Thurgood Marshall Hall and when an architect was hired to design it, the University of Maryland had added four research centers with 40 faculty and staff, creating a 20% shortfall in space and funding. Then at 60% construction drawings, the School of Public Policy added an undergraduate program. Learn how the university made creative use of every available corner of the new building to provide the program the students and faculty require.

The University of North Dakota was ready to build a new facility for its business and public administration students. They had a significant donor on board to help, but how to make up the rest of the budget? The answer, it turned out, was to engage donors not just in the funding, but in the design and function of the building, and incorporate their ideas into its fabric.

The new Science and Engineering Building (SEB), completed in 2020 on the campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio, is helping the engineering, biology, and chemistry departments overcome the challenges of inadequate infrastructure, crowded instructional rooms, poor access between labs across multiple buildings, insufficient lab support areas, and lack of space to accommodate capstone projects.

Incubators are essential to the development of many innovative ventures, but it’s in the stage between venture and company where many going concerns stop going. That’s when they don’t know exactly how much space or how many people they will need, and how fast the operation can grow. If they lock into a spot, they can end up choking on the lack of space or drowning in more space than they need or can ultimately afford. This is especially true of research labs.

University Health Network of Toronto, Canada’s largest research healthcare system, increased space efficiency and improved employee morale by reengineering its practices and workspaces to accommodate a hybrid work model. Of the 6 million sf occupied by the network, 1 million sf was office space, 200,000 sf of which was used by people who could be hybrid workers. The transition required a concentrated change management strategy, an investment in technology, and a reconfiguration of space and the way it was managed.

Following a 2018 change in leadership at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the nation’s largest science and energy laboratory redefined how it views and manages its 4-million-plus-gsf space portfolio. In the shift from a landlord-tenant cost-recovery model managed by outside partners to a restructured internal space management organization, ORNL launched a wide-ranging initiative to improve utilization of existing space and increase transparency. Among the measures implemented were: creating a space authority in each of the lab’s eight research directorates; convening an annual space summit; walking down the entire space at least twice a year; and building an integrated workplace management system based on extensive data gathering. 

The University of Colorado Boulder saved a mid-century building from demolition by refurbishing it -- and funding it -- in stages. They continued to use the building as the students and faculty decided the best use for each space, overcoming issues of low floor-to-floor heights, inadequate mechanical systems, and asbestos. 

Philadelphia-based Genesis AEC was able to reduce the square footage of a new translational medicine center of excellence by more than half and cut cost estimates by 16%, by reviewing the client’s needs versus wants; using innovative design practices, including a first-of-its-kind firewall design; and applying the approach known as “engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM).” The facility for a U.S.-based multi-national pharmaceutical company opened on Sept. 1, 2023.

Princeton University's Environmental Studies and School of Engineering and Applied Science (ES+SEAS) project, scheduled for completion in 2025, stretches 1,700 feet along a narrow 17.5-acre site. The complex will provide 670,000 gsf of lab, office, and collaboration space for five of the university’s science and engineering entities in three interconnected, four-story structures and a Commons. The project is notable not only for its massive scale but for its focus on fostering connections within and among groups that work in many different ways. The design realizes the university’s vision of creating identity, community, collaboration, inspiration, flexibility, and efficiency in an environment whose hallmark is a rich variety of bespoke non-lab space configurations that follow uniform standards for everything from office dimensions to lounge furnishings.

In this white paper, researchers from brightspot, Buro Happold, and Occuspace used anonymized data from 38 universities to help answer questions about how library, fitness, dining, and office spaces are used, and how usage patterns vary. Together, these insights can help leaders in higher education make decisions about consolidating locations, shifting stacks to study space, optimizing adjacencies among different functions on a campus, incorporating student success functions within libraries, aligning fitness and dining operations with demands, and right-sizing the workplace to align with hybrid and remote work patterns.

Now that we know working from home works, how can employers entice workers back into the office? The answer lies in pilot studies and data analysis that focus on the collaborative, activity-based work spaces that make the commute worth their while.