Perkins Eastman: Data & Computational Research Brochure

Computational Research Data &

THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF INFORMATION IN THE WORLD IS INCREASING.

In 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every 100 years. By the end of 1945, the rate was every 25 years. The “Knowledge Doubling Curve,” as it’s commonly known, was created by Buckminster Fuller in 1982. Human knowledge, on average, doubles every 13 months. With the help of the Internet, we are quickly on our way to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours. At Perkins Eastman, data underlies everything we do and informs many of the decisions we make, whether we design a small animal research lab or a 2 million-square-foot science building. By gathering and analyzing data, we create efficient buildings that embrace communities, support their needs and elevate the individual.

From research and education to healthcare, workplace, mixed use and transit-oriented developments, we design for a sustainable and resilient future, and enhance the human experience through the built environment.

The firm’s professional roster is composed of architects, interior designers, planners, urban designers, environmental analysts, resiliency experts, landscape architects, graphic designers, construction specification writers, construction administrators, economists, transportation engineers, and several other professional disciplines.

Our practice is founded on the idea that design can have a direct and positive impact on people’s lives.

This is achieved through research and innovation, always questioning the status quo, and a tireless effort to understand our clients’ missions and operations.

By focusing on the human experience and drawing on the firm’s vast pool of design and thought leaders the world over, we are uniquely equipped to tackle the most complex of design challenges, large or small.

With thirteen offices throughout North America and four overseas, our global presence enables us to bring all manner of expertise to thoughtful design. Our portfolio comprises work in a wide range of specialized project types which include Science & Technology, Higher Education, Healthcare, Hospitality, Large Scale Mixed-Use, Office & Retail, Planning & Urban Design, Transportation & Infrastructure, and Workplace. At the firm’s core, however, is a philosophy of convergence, whereby a diversity of practices, disciplines, and perspectives come together to yield practical and holistic solutions.

FOUNDED IN 1981 , Perkins Eastman is a global architecture firm that has grown to include over 1,100 employees working out of a combined 24 interdisciplinary offices around the world.

TRENDS IMPACTING DISCOVERY

SOCIETAL SHIFTS

Many segments of the American and global workforce have become increasingly informal and less-hierarchical. This leads to flatter team structures, greater inter-generational collaboration, and more-direct communication styles. It also turns certain types of expertise on its head — with younger digital-native researchers more adept with modern technologies than earlier generations. The integration of social media and their ability to sustain global interpersonal connections leaves younger researchers with knowledge networks that used to take a career to develop. Research platforms are only starting to see the impact of such epochal shifts. Recent worldwide health challenges have accelerated the need to evolve those research platforms and foster international collaboration throughout the global research community.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS

Computing power continues to advance almost unabated. The advance of such power, however, does not go wasted. From our ability to peer deeply into DNA sequencing, to contact-tracing the possible spread of disease by tracking mobile phones, to augmenting human decision making in food production through the use of artificial intelligence, new needs are constantly emerging. With so much of society’s activities increasingly tracked and digitized — big data and artificial intelligence is left to sort and decipher patterns amongst inconceivable volumes of data. The ability to harness such data is what drives many of the most promising computational research platforms. The advent of quantum computing within the next two decades looks likely to further transform computation platforms with vastly expanded processing power.

Discovery is impacted by numerous trends including societal shifts, technological advancements, approaches to “research neighborhoods,” and human networks.

HUB V SPOKE APPROACH

From the National Science Foundation to the National Institutes of Health, grants are contingent on interdisciplinary work, and all of them involve computational research. There is an inherent tension in whether such research should be embedded within disciplines, or if some of it should follow hub-like “institute” models. The answer is both. Computational research centers can benefit from being designed with varying sizes of topic-based research neighborhoods that can act as hubs for all facets of vast teaching and research platform.

“SOFT”WARE SPACE V HARDWARE

Computational hardware cages, SCIF labs, and server farms are important, but no longer the centerpieces of data research teaching and research facilities. Instead, the hard-side of these facilities has given way to the softer, more human aspects of innovation, discovery, and inclusion (promoting both cognitive and demographic diversity). This shift heightens psychological considerations to equal importance with technical considerations.

MASTER PLANNING

Environments That Invigorate An Experimental Ecosystem

The continued advancement of processing power enables ever more complex computational models to accomplish ever-more in less time. This ironically means that such facilities need to physically shorten the distance of student, faculty, and industry awareness by creating a social mixing bowl that allows introverts and extroverts alike to work on ideas, but to then rapidly share such ideas in common spaces and bring in outside partners to examine marketability — from Silicon Valley, to CERN, to IT cluster Rhine-Main-Neckar.

In addition to our expertise in science and technology, higher education, and workplace environments, we also specialize in campus planning. Through our work with Tier 1 research universities such as: Washington University in St. Louis, Duke University, Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of California San Francisco (picture, right), we have become adept at activating campus spaces, connecting interior and exterior programming, improving the utilization of mixed-use facilities, creating and maximizing the availability of open space, managing multi-modal circulation, figuring out unsolvable parking, service, and access challenges, leveraging density, navigating sensitive and combative neighbors, and bolstering security to foster campuses that are a source of both university and civic pride.

New spaces for collaboration will be created across multiple disciplines and accommodate growth in clinical, research, educational, administrative and support spaces, as well as new campus amenities and housing.

PROGRAMMING

SOCIAL EVOLUTION AND GENERATIONAL INTERACTIONS

For workers in the older generations, the world is changing fast. For the younger generations, it’s not fast enough.

There is a clear divergence in the thought processes and in the preferred work environments between the four generations comprising the majority of the current workforce. This becomes significant to the long-range planning and recruitment strategy of a new facility. One of the most significant changes to the workforce is that Millennials have overtaken Baby Boomers as the largest segment of the work force in 2015, and will continue to be the most prominent group for the foreseeable future. They, along with Generation X, hold to a more informal, collaborative, and inclusive work philosophy, while traditionalist Boomers tend to be structured and formal workaholics. Through innovation, many successful work

environments have found a balance. The design of a new research facility must embrace the current social, cultural and technological evolution and address the issues that are illuminated by the daily interaction of diverse personalities while capitalizing on their potential.

Considerations:

• Four generations that think and work differently

• Rethinking of administrative structures

• Re-imagined work environments

• Dissolved territorial boundaries

• Blending of disciplines

• Aligned incentives

• Increased call for career education and support

• Diverse work/study preferences such as closed-door, library, or cafe

• Inclusion of new tools for media and communication

The Baby Boomer born 1946-1964

The Millenial born 1980-2000

Generation X born 1965-1980 Generation Z born after 2000

Environments That Build Human Networks

“Collision spaces” are communal areas designed to foster interaction and spontaneous discussion among scientists.

PROPORTIONAL PROGRAM SPACE DISTRIBUTION

The research environment has become a more complex organism dependent on the interaction between various equally important functions.

As contemporary design concepts have developed over the past century, the best solutions have always enhanced interactions between researchers by fostering creativity: a successful lab facility is no longer merely a collection of fixed benches and inflexible millwork sequestered within in a dark interior. Furthermore, modern laboratory and research facilities must anticipate future needs, whether they are

presently known, or currently unseen. Future needs may require new layouts of benches and fixtures, or the complete reconfiguration of floor areas, and the well-designed lab will anticipate change by embracing it with efficiently implemented solutions enacted with carefully considered phasing to avoid disruption to current workflows. The design of the modern research and development laboratory increases the distribution of natural lighting while providing a stimulating environment for collaboration, where casual interactions lead to encounters and exchanges among team members, opening new channels of thought and discovery.

SPACE ALLOCATION HISTORY

In vivo science and data research improves the basic understanding and use of model organisms of human health and disease.

PROGRAMMING

Environments That Build Human Networks

INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS COMBINED WITH BENEFITS OF CO-LOCATED GROUPS

Does physical proximity of collaborators measurably improve scientific results? “Despite the positive impact of emerging communication technologies on scientific research, our results provide evidence for the role of physical proximity as a predicator of the impact of collaborations.” - Joint Harvard Medical School-Children’s Hospital & MIT study conclusion

It has been shown that:

• Production of knowledge is increased when concentrated in fewer centers of high impact

• Top “Hubs of Discovery” increasingly collaborate with other top centers

• Proximity enhances productivity

Our teams have found considerable success in designing spaces that convene multiple disciplines around a common theme or research topic, sometimes called research neighborhoods. These are managed in a very different way from traditionally managed academic departments, and instead implement an “institute” management model. This management structure transforms not only the design of such spaces, but also the very culture of the institution that occupies the space. Importantly, these challenge platforms are not awash in a sea of ever-changing teams. Instead, they are also in close proximity to core labs and technicians with deep and focused specialization. This co-location transforms an engineering academic and research building from something that is generically flexible, into a true matrix-organization physically and operationally optimized for discovery.

COLLABORATION & TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH

The collective expertise of global interdisciplinary teams combines with the documented benefits of colocated groups.

As important as bench laboratory spaces are to a research facility, they are no longer independently viable. The functional space distribution in science facilities has been gradually shifting as equipment and processes become more efficient and as space demands grow for specialty functions and dry-lab space in addition to wet labs. The research environment has become a more complex organism dependent on the interaction between various equally important functions. Considerations for mechanical and electrical systems along with education and collaboration space will also weigh into the net to gross factors.

Understanding this programmatic interrelationship in context with technological and cultural shifts will be the key to identifying the right space program for each project.

“BUILDING CURATORS”

Our work in some universities has found that research platforms dramatically benefit from “curators,” whether they are individual “Science Directors” or coordinating committees. Part science, part human connection— these horizontal connectors cut across silos and accelerate multi-disciplinary discovery at leading research universities and institutes. New approaches to architectural design are required to support and enhance these interdisciplinary objectives.

PLANNING

Environments That Adapt Quickly As Research Evolves

ADAPTABLE DESIGN

Discovery and innovation is fast-paced and a key element to success of any learning and research facility is its ability to adapt and support the continuous change in equipment, and research focus. Facilities designed using flexible, modular elements will allow utility and architectural systems to be more readily modified over time and across various computing and data science disciplines. With careful planning, learning and research space can be switched from one discipline to another. Additionally, flexible makerspace environments are especially important for a computer instrument/equipment intensive facility whose researchers rely on rapid prototyping.

Flexibility is not free, so a careful balance between planning for the future and paying for it with today’s dollars is critical. Providing special utility systems that can be extended, HVAC systems that can accommodate new research and equipment, and electrical systems that can be expanded have a significant impact on first cost. However, the long term benefit from achieved flexibility will reduce the need for costly renovations, and minimize interruptions to ongoing operations. This is an area where intelligent and thoughtful design can substantially improve the long term viability of a facility.

A properly designed layout will strategically incorporate inherently fixed elements such as sinks and fume hoods so that they will conveniently support daily activities yet not impede future adaptation. Planning large open-bench laboratories will absorb the expansion and contraction of lab groups, and knowledge of beneficial laboratory modules coordinated with the building’s structural grid will allow for alignment of the ceiling design, lighting, and quick-connect utility panel locations with optimal bench spacing.

Thoughtfully placed adjustable-height work tables provide common equipment bench space or post-doc work stations depending on need, and also can be moved to make space for a new large equipment setup or other such unplanned need. This flexible planning will maximize researcher capacity and accommodate workflow and equipment changes, or even new space divisions, with minimal disruption to lab operations.

Sharing of resources becomes more convenient, common responsibilities become a unified effort, and collaboration will be a natural occurrence.

Considerations:

• Modular planning and flexible casework make space easily reconfigurable

• Allows for the expansion and contraction of lab groups

• Increases potential for collaboration

OPEN & ADAPTABLE LABORATORIES

Flexible planning maximizes researcher capacity while accommodating changes to workflow and equipment. It is well established that open and changeable research environments are more rational than small, fixed laboratory units. Selecting flexible laboratory casework is only one part of a successful lab design.

• Reduced investment in renovation leaves more grant money for research

• Increased efficiency and productivity over cramped segregated spaces

• Mechanical and electrical systems designed to adapt to layout changes

Research spaces are organized around a range of collaborative hubs, encouraging casual and frequent interaction between scientists.

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING PLATFORMS

With multimodal project-based learning, the amount of space allocated for each seat typically needs to be increased to allow for a variety of sizes of groups and pedagogies. With multiple groups, all four walls of a classroom are now needed for writing and display, not a single “teaching wall.” Technology expands and accommodates, based on the activity in a classroom with Wi-Fi providing seamless connectivity, video conferencing diminishing distance, and “smart boards” capturing class work for future reference. These pedagogical shifts have affected all disciplines and all class sizes in data science and beyond.

Arranging people into small groups make the learning experience personal, collaborative, and innovative.

DESIGN

TRANSPARENCY & VISIBILITY

Showcasing science in action is a strong byproduct in the transparency and visibility that defines the modern lab.

Beyond the benefits of visibility and transparency in successful lab design, the end result should embrace and engage all users of the facility: the undergrads, the benefactors, the colleagues in research, and even the visitors.

The dissolving of physical barriers can inspire the evolution of the workplace mentality. Visual connectivity along with the passage of light tends to increase the perceived scale of a space and generate a stronger link to the life of the building.

This helps promote a sense of community and a busy exchange of ideas. Occupants and visitors will be treated to inspired diversions and creative interactions. Diverse groups will be encouraged to share ideas and develop new collaborations. Add to this the infusion of natural light, and the thoughtful use of transparency in strategic locations can be transformative and engaging..

The board room at the Flatiron Institute opens up to the adjacent roof garden through a set of large structurally-glazed sliding doors.

CREATE TRANSPARENCY AND ENHANCE VISIBILITY

• Enhance transparency within and between research neighborhoods

• Enhance creativity, interaction, and collaboration through high visibility design

• Create physical and visual connections to labs from office zones for increased safety and awareness

• Science on Display. Showcase science in action by displaying scientific missions and work

• Provide transparency to encourage potential donor excitement

• Engage visitors, undergrads, benefactors, and colleagues in the research

• Increase the distribution of natural light to enhance the work environment

The auditorium is a feature space for hosting lectures and conferences to engage the broader scientific community. The interior is clad in elegant folded wood panels, and has access to daylight via large glass walls that can be closed with motorized curtains.

Chalkboards providw informal spaces for impromptu meetings and conversations which can spark the creative process and lead to breakthroughs.

The research modules are connected via floor openings and a stair that provides glimpses into the major meeting spaces on each floor. The inviting stair is part of an active design strategy encouraging movement across floors.

Flexible amenity spaces allow for a variety of configurations to accommodate the Institute’s diverse event schedule.

A feature stair with ample and flexible seating creates physical connections between the research floors.

FOSTER COLLABORATION tete-a-tete.

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Sustainable design and resiliency is integral to our process and design philosophy; it is never an add-on. Our principals at Perkins Eastman are experts in high-performance building and have designed award-winning LEED, Zero-NetEnergy, and wellness-focused facilities.

Perkins Eastman is a longstanding member of the USGBC; a signatory of the AIA 2030 Commitment; a Platform Partner with 100 Resilient Cities – pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation; and has committed to apply EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies), the green building certification system for emerging markets and are familiar with the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Today, with more than 300 LEED Accredited Professionals, we continue our commitment to sustainability by designing buildings that are environmentally sensitive, energy efficient, and healthy to occupy. More than 200 of our projects have been designed to achieve Platinum, Gold, Silver and basic LEED certifications.

Natural lighting is maximized throughout the research institute.

STRATEGIES FOR COVID-19 RESPONSE & PLANNING

Careful planning and lots of distancing are critical for R&D labs not only for the near term but also for the future.

Workspace planning will be critical for reducing the potential for spreading infectious diseases between staff members in the lab. Working with the research team to better understand the workflow in the wet lab and the individual offices will be important. Providing adequate spacing between where staff will occupy over a period of time can reduce cross exposure.

Layouts in the laboratory space to help physical distancing feel more safe and comfortable is important. Where proximity can’t be avoided, screens and dividers are an option to provide ensure safety and protection for the staff.

Incorporating elements to workstations such as glass screens is a successful way to create physical separation, yet maintain visibility and connectivity.

Keeping in mind of the future, we need to think adaptability instead of permanence and flexibility instead of fixed. For example, using sliding white boards to create separation in dry labs. This solution would allow researchers to use the

separation element as valuable writing surface, as well as provide flexibility to allow users to work independently or collaborate in small groups when needed.

Long term physical solutions also needs to go hand in hand with incorporating good mechanical design. Improving indoor air quality is paramount. Key considerations are:

• Increased filtration

• Increased ventilation

• Optimum humidification

These are vital solutions to minimize airborne transmission and reduce person-to-person transmission.

Additional measures such as UVGI (ultra violet germicidal irradiation) may be employed in clean rooms.

Establishing lab maintenance procedure for the day to day function of the lab can be a tool to insure a clean and safe work environment.

We are looking forward the future, engaging with clients and leading researchers to help realize safe environments for all.

LEGEND

6’0” queue for physical distancing

Disinfecting wipes

Hand sanitizer

Congested area

CAPACITY

Above is an example of modified space planning for a computational research environment as part of an on-campus scenario.

Congestion area. Stagger arrival times and provide signage for physical distancing at 6’0” apart. Limit elevator occupancy.

Restroom queue.

Provide signage instructing single person through at a time at research neighborhood entry, and provide hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes.

Continue single use in PI offices and remove guest chairs.

Arrange seating along corridor to maintain a minimum of 6’0” physical distance.

Reduce meeting and collaboration capacity, provide hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes.

Original workstation count.

20 44 Workstation count with physical distancing guidelines.

1 NOTES Congestion area. Stagger arrival times and provide signage for physical distancing at 6’0” apart. Limit elevator occupancy.

2 Restroom queue.

3

Provide signage instructing single person through at a time at research neighborhood entry, and provide hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes.

4 In research neighborhoods, space desks at least 8’0” apart and facing the

In research neighborhoods, space desks at least 8’0” apart and facing the same direction. Utilize flexible sliding markerboards for physical distancing

In labs, maintain at least 8’0” physical distance. Establish shift schedule and if possible, assign workstations.

For pantry, establish reservation system for single person use at a time. Provide disinfecting wipes and signage with reservation and cleaning protocols.

FLATIRON INSTITUTE

New York, New York

“It seems clear that data is going to play an increasingly important role in all aspects of science and it is very exciting to create an organization to exploit that realization. My hopes are high that Flatiron will make important advances in basic science, as well as in translating many of their findings to applications of direct benefit to humanity.”

—JIM SIMONS, CHAIRMAN OF THE FLATIRON INSTITUTE

SIZE SERVICES CLIENT 108,000 sf (10,034 sm) Architecture, Interior Design

Flatiron Institute

The Flatiron Institute is the first multidisciplinary program of its kind focused solely on computation, providing a permanent space for up to 250 scientists and computer programmers, and flexible space for visiting scholars and fellows during their frequent collaborations. These experts in the fields of astrophysics, biology, mathematics, and quantum physics will work across disciplines to generate and deploy new cutting-edge computational methods focused on analyzing large data sets.

The research floors offer a variety of individual and shared offices which line the day lit perimeter allowing for flexible teaming and clustering of research groups. Research spaces are organized around a range of collaborative hubs, encouraging casual and frequent interaction between scientists. A new feature stair acts as a “connective spine” creating physical connections within each of the computational centers, and facilitating collaboration vertically across floors. Communal spaces such as an auditorium allow scientists the interaction with those in other units and guests from the broader scientific community through daily social gatherings and robust event programming.

“This magnificent building will help further the school’s vision of academic excellence and research collaboration, serving as a hub for our growing computer and data science programs.”

—AARON BOBICK, DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & APPLIED SCIENCE AND THE JAMES M. MCKELVEY PROFESSOR

SIZE

SERVICES

CLIENT The Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the Washington University in St. Louis conducts high-impact research and trains future researchers, engineers and educators in both the fundamental properties of computing systems and how computation can benefit a wide range of disciplines. Key themes include: designing systems that interact with humans and the physical world; using computation to interpret large data sets from science and engineering, and creating a safe and secure infrastructure to connect millions of people to their data and to each other.

The new Computer Science & Engineering building is in keeping with the traditional architecture and reflects the recent masonry Collegiate Gothic exterior designs of the surrounding buildings, while the courtyard-facing exterior is a multi-story curtain wall providing a dramatic window into the contemporary, state-of-the-art computational research spaces. The interior spaces provide contemporary and flexible spaces for a range of state-of-the-art computational engagement activities. Perkins Eastman’s design for the new home of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering is one of the most significant capital projects in Washington University’s recent history: the transformation of the east end of the Danforth Campus.

"People make discoveries and advance science, not buildings. But the right environment helps foster a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that’s essential to scientific breakthroughs."

—PROF. EDWARD W. “ROCKY” KOLB, DEAN OF THE DIVISION OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES

CENTER FOR PHYSICS

SERVICES

Programming, Design of Chicago

CLIENT

The facility unites the University’s two branches of physics research – Theorists and Experimentalists – within the same building. For decades, the two groups were located in separate buildings. This renovation and addition creates new flexible experimental physics labs and significant special purpose instrument labs. To further the intellectual discourse and camaraderie between groups, the project features two large collaboration spaces. One is a formal seminar room for scheduled lectures and events while the other is an informal lunch commons and exterior roof patio for group meals and lunchtime talks. These spaces provide excellent views overlooking the newly landscaped quad and also exhibit their activities to the campus below. The center also includes new “collision spaces,” which are communal areas designed to foster interaction and spontaneous discussion among scientists.

The renovation and expansion of a modern building not only extends the life of the building, but also transforms the facility into one that is inspiring and responsive to the future of experimental and theoretical physics.

CLIENT

SIZE SERVICES of California, Medical Center

Perkins Eastman designed the Telemedicine Resource Center and Rural-PRIME Facility, a four-story building located in the center of the UC Davis Medical Center campus. The facility’s innovative use of telecommunications tools aid the delivery of clinical services in areas of California where physician shortages are a persistent problem. The first three floors of the building connect directly to the recently completed Education Building. This connection promotes continuity between the research and education programs occurring in the two facilities. The Center is comprised of three primary program elements: the Telemedicine Learning Center (TLC), the Center for Health and Technology (CHT), and the Center for Virtual Care (CVC).

The facility includes dry laboratories, state-of-the-art patient simulation technology to help medical students develop skills in the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions, and a telemedicine suite and production studio which utilizes live audio/video connections to rural sites for virtual medical consultations.

"The Simons Center for Geometry and Physics is a late comer in this time-honored tradition [unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences], representing the fertile interaction between Physics and Mathematics over millennia."

—LUIS ALVAREZ GAUME, DIRECTOR

CLIENT

The Simons Center is a research center devoted to furthering fundamental knowledge in mathematics and theoretical physics. Motivated by the increased activity and interest at the interface of these two disciplines, the Simons Center for Geometry & Physics was created with the conviction that significant further progress in each field can be achieved by bringing researchers from both disciplines together in a collaborative environment.

The new facility, in concept and function, represents the convergence of cuttingedge ideas between geometry and physics. An inferior atrium becomes a dynamic environment designed for interaction, academic study, and collaboration among the two schools of thought. Unlike adjacent buildings, the new Center is used primarily for faculty members, post-doctoral, and graduate students and focuses on faculty offices, research spaces and collaborative spaces more than instructional space. A pedestrian bridge adjoins the new center with the existing math tower and physics building, enabling access to all areas of study.

New York, New York

The space is designed to encourage interactions among faculty and students. "If you're Albert Einstein, all you need is a desk in a patent office and then it all happens. Most of us are not Albert Einstein. And for that reason, we need to have communication, discussion—ideas kicked around."

—BRIAN GREENE, DIRECTOR OF COLUMBIA’S INSTITUTE FOR COSMOLOGY, AND ASTROPARTICLE

SIZE

SERVICES

Columbia University

CLIENT Perkins Eastman transformed a registered National Historic Landmark to create a new Center for Theoretical Physics, a destination for distinguished researchers, visitors, and students. The design creates a distinct identity for the Center and provides places for informal collaboration as well as offices for quiet, individual research work. The strategic adjacencies and proportions of these two types of spaces are major contributors to the success of this project.

The design features a communicating stair between the two floors which links the café space, and a variety of group meeting areas, with surrounding offices. Throughout the space are the ubiquitous blackboards, an indispensable tool for the theoretical physicist to explore various equations and relationships.

Concept Study, Architecture, Consulting on City Permit Process

PHILIPS: DIGITAL INNOVATIONL HUB

“Working in close proximity to hospitals, universities, and start-ups alike will enable us to incubate our regional research partnerships and, ultimately, accelerate our ability to develop new solutions to drive the future of health technology.”

—JOHN FRANK, CEO

SERVICES

Philips Healthcare CLIENT Philips Respironics, a global leader in the development of innovative sleep and respiratory solutions, required a new space that is aligned with its Workplace Innovation Program, which is based on the principles of shared space, flexibility, mobility, and sustainability. Attracting the best and brightest talent is a strategic imperative as well.

The new dynamic Digital Hub workplace serves as the new prototype for its operations. It provides a creative environment for new product development, product research, marketing, and co-creation with outside companies and the local institutional community. The space promotes connectivity and collaboration by providing free-address, desk sharing, and alternative work settings—crucial requirements to attract and retain top employees. A cue from Philips’ expertise in the respiratory market is reflected in the ceiling and partitions, which is designed to appear as though it is “breathing”—a metaphor for the type of important product development occurring in the new workplace.

"This state-of-the art facility will be a key innovation center for Smith & Nephew that will provide an engaging environment for both current and prospective new employees to create next generation surgical robotic platforms."

─BRIAN MCKINNON, VICE PRESIDENT FOR R&D ROBOTICS AND SURGICAL ENABLERS

CLIENT Seeking flexible and functional space for its growing operations, global medical technology company, Smith+Nephew, chose to relocate to the heart of “Robotics Row,” an innovation epicenter for robotics, technology, and artificial intelligence within the historic Strip District neighborhood. The new headquarters supports groundbreaking research and development of robotic surgical systems, and provides areas to facilitate enhanced training of healthcare professionals now and into the future.

The fit-out encompasses three floors connected by a distinctive wood and glass staircase to encourage team circulation and collaboration. Additional spaces include reception area, secure high-bay makerspace, cadaver and prototyping labs, collaboration zones, enclosed offices, small nooks, and lounges. Industrial-grade garage doors on the ground floor open to an exterior courtyard, providing valuable connection to the community, and encouraging an active, healthy work environment.

NEW

Norwalk, Connecticut

“The new facility brings together our Norwalk-based employees in one building and provide a positive, collaborative environment for us to continue to deliver on our mission and build on our almost 40 years of success.”

─PHIL SNOW, CEO, FACTSET

CLIENT FactSet is a global provider of integrated financial information, analytical applications, and industry-leading services. As a provider of leading –edge technology, Perkins Eastman’s design celebrated innovation and research, encouraged innovation and creativity; and supported collaboration and Factset’s culture.

A series of neighborhoods re-scale the floor plates into smaller communities. Occupying five floors, each neighborhood supports choice of work postures and varying degrees of heads-down and collaborative work. Shared meeting and amenity zones provide acoustic and visual buffers between each neighborhood. Two connecting stairs and an array of collaboration spaces─phone and huddle rooms, ideation lounges, breakout, and conference─provide employees with new tools to collaborate and organize their workdays.

Petuum’s CEO is a computer science professor, and given his “day job” in academia, his goal was to create a research space that performed in a similar way - focused, driven and informal.

Petuum accelerates and simplifies AI and ML solutions for businesses. The interior fit-out for this progressive, tech start-up specializing in machine learning and artificial intelligence accommodates the company’s anticipated growth. The program combines a flexible mix of open plan workspace, private offices, a central pantry, gaming area, and collaborative spaces.

Petuum’s CEO is a computer science professor, so given his “day job” in academia, his goal was to create a space that performed in a similar way. To that end, the design supports dual functions―one that bolsters a creative and aspirational culture with enormous business ambition and potential, and that replicates the collaborative nature of academia. This approach also enhances the company’s recruitment and retention efforts by helping them to obtain the top talent necessary to focus on deploying its product in industries with high AI potential that may be slow to adopt the technology. The design delivers a high-performing workplace with areas for heads-down work, collaboration, and “town hall” style meetings, while maintaining visual transparency throughout. Collaboration zones feature soft seating and writeable surfaces.

i ROBOT

With the second-largest AI code base after Tesla, iRobot's autonomous robots roam the wide open spaces to anticipate the next-generation home intelligence system.

SIZE

iRobot Corporation Master planning, Visioning and Change Management, Test-fit and Real Estate Analysis, Programming, Planning, Architecture, Interior Design SERVICES 184,000 sf (17,094 sm)

iRobot is a leader in delivering household robotic technology based solutions for the consumer. To assist in meeting its goal to continue to innovate and transform its campus, the design team provided master planning for the four headquarters buildings, and led highly participative programming and consensus building sessions. This resulted in identifying the principles that would become the keystones of the design concepts, and options for how iRobot could reconfigure themselves in their existing space to improve collaboration, introduce more natural light and brand their space. Specialized spaces included customer demonstration labs, research and prototype labs, and robot test areas.

The labs were re-designed to increase scalability and with internal glazing to allow employees and visitors to observe all of the exciting innovations underdevelopment. The open collaboration spaces, including a new Community Space, are drawing more employees together for professional and personal reasons, achieving iRobot’s goal to facilitate spontaneous collaboration.

AKAMAI

As one of the world’s leading companies in the a global technology company in web cloud and security management services, Akamai's meeting rooms are video-equipped to maximize the ability to work as global teams straddling several time zones.

Cambridge and Westford, Massachusetts

SIZE

CLIENT Architecture, Interior design, Programming, Visioning Workshops, Branding SERVICES 400,000 sf (37,161 sm)

Akamai Technologies

Akamai’s edge network is a distributed computing platform which spans 4,000 locations in 137 countries around the world. This same platform is the foundation for additional growth segments in content delivery such as identity management, block chain payments, the Internet of Things, and next-generation enterprise security.

Akamai faced challenges with collaboration, innovation, and research. The offices helped minimize disruption and missed opportunities while maximizing the employee and client experience. Akamai’s meeting rooms are video-equipped to maximize the ability to work as global teams straddling several time zones. Bright bold colors graphically tie the offices and work areas together, promoting circulation through and encouraging employees to get away from their desks and collaborate.