CUR 2002 Workshop Report
 
CUR 2002 Planning and Building Facilities for U.G. Research Planning: Part A

• First Steps:

  • Start with Mission, Academic Plan, Curriculum & Pedagogy before listing facility needs and before starting design process.
  • How should students learn? - What should they know how to do?
  • How should science departments approach these questions?
  • Then, ask what and how much? Establish priorities.
     

• Planning Process: 3-4 year process minimum, even if funding is secured.

  • Campus Planning
  • Facility Programming
  • Schematic Design
  • Design Development
  • Construction Documents
  • Construction
     

• Mission and Academic Plan:

  • "Process of creating a mission statement is as important as the statement itself."
  • Facility needs should be coordinated among departments.
  • Don't just fix what is broken, but plan for the future.
  • Involve both senior and younger faculty, encouraging active discussion.
  • Tour other facilities elsewhere. Learn from others.
     

• Curriculum and Pedagogy: 

  • Plans for new programs?
  • Any anticipated changes in graduation requirements?
  • Any new majors or minors planned?
  • Potential for interdisciplinary activities?
  • How should departments be located?
     

• Faculty

  • Projected FTE by department?
  • How much faculty research?
  • How much faculty turnover in next 10-15 years?
  • Technology Integration
     

• Facility Development Strategy:

  • New or renovation or combination?
  • What goes in new vs. renovation?
  • Space Description / Qualification 
  • Justification / Rationale
  • Vision / Intent
  • Site
  • Space Relationships - Diagrams
  • Participating process leading to consensus
  • This forms basis of design for the architects
     

• Planning Rules of Thumb:

  • Net area - Space that are assignable to departments, etc. 
  • Gross area - includes walls, corridors, toilets, stairs, mechanical space, etc. In addition to net area.
  • Net gross ratio - efficiency is impacted by building layout. For science buildings, net gross range is 56-63% Average = 60%
  • Space standards - DLC+A benchmarking database for different types of spaces. 
  • Classrooms - tables/chairs takes more space than tablet-arm chairs.
  • Laboratories should be planned on basis of a "planning module", usually around 300-330 nsf per module.
     

• Peer Comparisons:

  • Net SF per faculty FTE by department (excluding non-departmental classrooms & library space). See where your department stands in comparison to peer institutions.
     

• Planning Rules of Thumb:

  • Design with assumption that spaces will change. 
  • Don't design too specifically for the individual, but for the function. 
  • If cost of renovation approaches 60-70% of cost of new, build new!
  • Don't leave a department out
     

• Have Fun!!

 
Questions and Answers - Conclusions:

• Some spaces will be more flexible than others - Organic chemistry laboratories with lots of hoods will be less flexible. 
• Stub-out utilities to each room for future use even if not needed initially. 
• When does "green" architecture come into the process? Impetus should come from faculty and institution - has potential cost impact, so should be considered early.
• The way a facility works is impacted by relationship between offices and labs.
• When does the issue of "cost constraints" come into process? Should be considered early and often at increasing level of detail / accuracy as planning progresses.