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Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
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1
Human Issues

A laboratory affects the people for whom it was built, other people who share the building, and other stakeholders in the community, and it is designed and built by yet another large group of people. To increase the probability of completing a successful laboratory construction or renovation, it is necessary to identify and ensure the active involvement of all the people who should be participants in the process. This chapter identifies these participants and discusses their interactions.

PARTICIPANTS

Success in a laboratory construction or renovation project depends on having the right people involved with the project at the right time. Some of the participants are part of the process by virtue of their institutional or external affiliations; others must be chosen to enhance the probability of obtaining a superior result. The two most significant of the latter set are the "champion" of the project and the design professional. But the identification and involvement of all participants and the importance of their selection cannot be overemphasized.

The participants involved in a laboratory renovation or construction project include four categories: a client group, a design group, a construction group, and a larger community group, each with internal (institutional) and/or external members. Table 1.1 lists the more significant members of each together with the phases of the project in which they participate. The titles of the individuals or the offices in which they work may differ from one institution to another, and in some institutions an individual may serve in more than one role, but all players

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

are important. The members of a group or a collection of members of different groups will form teams or committees during different phases of the project in order to carry out the operations of that phase, but defined lines of communications within and between the groups should be maintained. Otherwise, confusion and low productivity will result in all areas of the project. Communications during the different phases of the project are discussed in Chapter 2.

Project Champion

The participants listed in Table 1.1 and the process described in Chapter 2 are all characteristic of successful projects. In addition the committee found that in these successful projects a figure emerged with special leadership qualities. Typically this person, called the champion in this report, is important in articulating the need for the project and driving the project continuously from beginning to end. This person commands respect within the community and has a direct line to the administration of the institution responsible for the laboratory. Since any member of the client group can take on this role, the function does not appear in Table 1.1. In academia, it is frequently a member of the group of users; in industrial and government laboratories it may be a staff person.

The champion may not be the same person as the project leader and may not be giving directions to either the design or construction groups. Rather, the champion provides inspiration to the project and, if necessary, uses her or his clout to advance the project. The champion is not part of the formal project structure described below, and the champion's role may actually involve working outside formal organizational lines.

Participant Groups

Client Group

The client group illustrated in Figure 1.1 is entirely internal, although expert consultants can be retained and are placed in this group. This group is composed of a "client team" that will be the core group; financially and administratively responsible persons; and critical auxiliary staff. The decision to undertake the building or renovation of a facility may require the approval of other individuals who are not part of the client team but who are in the client group. These individuals may include representatives from the administration (e.g., president, provost, dean, CEO), business office (e.g., vice president, chief financial officer, treasurer), development office, occasionally representatives from the trustees or scientific board of advisors, or even the shareholders of a company, or the U.S. Congress. While the approval of these executives is required to undertake the project, day-to-day management is normally delegated to the working group that in this report is called the "client team."

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

TABLE 1.1 Participants and Phases of Participation

 

Phase of Project

Participant/Function

Predesign

Design

Construction

Post-construction

Client Group (Internal)

Client Team

 

 

 

 

Project manager

X

X

X

X

User representative

X

X

X

X

Budget authority

X

X

X

X

Others

 

 

 

 

Users

X

X

X

X

Administrators-senior, finance

X

X

X

X

Environmental Health & Safety officer

X

X

X

X

Facilities operations representativea

X

X

X

X

External relations representative

X

X

X

X

Special Consultantsb,c

X

X

X

X

Commissioning Expertb 

 

 

 

X

Design Group (External)

Architectural and Engineering Firmb

X

X

X

X

Engineering firm

X

X

X

X

Consultants

X

X

X

 

Engineers/Specialists HVAC, fire, ADA, EPA, codes, etc.

X

X

 

X

Facilities Programmerb

X

 

 

 

Construction Group (External)

General Contractorb

 

 

X

 

Subcontractors

 

 

X

 

Suppliers

 

 

X

 

Suppliersb

 

 

X

 

Larger Community Group

Impacted Nonusers (Internal)

X

X

X

X

Public (External)

 

 

 

 

Neighbors

X

X

X

X

Environmental groups

X

X

X

X

Government (External)

 

 

 

 

Local

X

X

X

X

County

X

X

X

X

Regional

X

X

X

X

State

X

X

X

X

Federal

X

X

X

X

Public Utilities (External)

X

X

X

X

a Includes client's architect, design and construction, utilities, and operations and maintenance divisions.

b Hired by client.

c Includes environmental site assessor, geotechnical consultant, community relations expert, construction manager, and cost expert.

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

The client team consists of three people. The first is the project manager, who derives authority from the head of facilities operations. In large organizations this person is often an architect or engineer. The second is the budget authority, a person who can authorize major changes in the budget. This person derives authority from the financial administrator of the institution. The third is the user representative, who derives authority from a senior administrator of the institution. Often this senior administrator is the person who has discretionary power to assign space in the facility, for example, a dean or department chair in a university or a director of research in industry. The members of the client team, who derive their authority from different administrative units, often have different and potentially conflicting interests that must be resolved for a project to proceed satisfactorily.

The user representative is the connection to the users, the people who will occupy the facility. The committee found that many of the most successful projects had as the user representative a scientist-administrator who was not going to benefit directly from the project, was knowledgeable, had good judgment, and had the confidence of all participants. For large projects the user representative is often freed from other duties for the duration of the project.

It is essential to have a project leader who has qualifications and experience commensurate with the type and scope of the project and has operational authority and responsibility for the project. Because several members of the client group can take on this role, the function does not appear in Table 1.1. For large projects, this person will generally be the client project manager; for smaller projects, especially in smaller institutions, this person is often the user representative or is designated by the administration or management. The project leader is the center of decisions and communications and for most of the project acts as the single point of contact for other groups. Therefore, this person should be familiar with the entire program, should have some budgetary authority, and, most significant, must remain with the project from beginning to end in order to provide continuity. If the designated project leader is inexperienced, it may be advisable to provide suitable training for this person.

Users are the people who will ultimately occupy the facility. The extent of users' input into a project is very institution-and phase-dependent. Users often lack experience in laboratory design and may not know what to request or how to evaluate options. Obtaining a successful facility depends greatly on input from informed users, so an instructional process should be implemented early in the project to achieve this goal. See the section titled "Sociology" in this chapter and the "Predesign Phase" section in Chapter 2.

Other members of the client group include the institution's architect and representatives from environmental health and safety (EH&S), facilities operations (including campus utilities), and external relations (including public relations, legal affairs, publicity, etc.). The client group may also include special consultants such as a construction manager, environmental site assessor, geo-

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

technical consultant, commissioning expert, community relations expert, insurers, technical risk managers, and acoustical engineer.

Because of the size of the client group, it is advisable to engage a construction management individual or firm, especially for large projects. It may also be advisable to engage an independent cost expert to work with the design professionals and the internal staff to properly evaluate what the costs will be.

It is also advisable to engage a building commissioning expert as a consultant to evaluate the finished product to ensure that it meets design specifications and operates as planned, and that the client's facilities management division knows how to run and maintain it. These independent commissioning firms can provide important added value in meeting these goals.

During the project the client group will form committees and teams with members of the design group, as discussed in Chapter 2. The active and timely participation of all involved parties is critical to completing a successful project. The qualifications of all professionals engaged in the project should be thoroughly reviewed.

Design Group

The predesign/design group, illustrated in Figure 1.2, is composed of an architectural firm (or an equivalent design professional firm), engineers, and special consultants such as fire specialists, environmental consultants, code consultants, and EH&S specialists. (Design professional firms include architectural, architectural and engineering (A&E), engineering, and laboratory programming and design firms. Whether the design work will be carried out by an architectural or a laboratory planning firm will depend on the expertise of the architectural firm engaged.)

Because laboratory facilities are complex, technically sophisticated, and mechanically intensive structures, the choice of a design professional firm is critical. To understand the client's needs and to know what is necessary for an effective laboratory, the design professional firm should have had significant practical experience in laboratory design, construction, or renovation. Thus the firm should have successfully completed at least one laboratory construction or renovation project in the relevant scientific area. The committee found that successful completion of a laboratory in one scientific area (medical laboratory or synthetic organic, for example) does not necessarily demonstrate competence for a laboratory project in another scientific area. Methods for finding appropriately qualified design professional firms include interviews with firms, visits to completed projects at other institutions, and consultation with previous clients of prospective design firms.

In selecting a firm, it is very important to ensure the engagement of a specific, experienced individual in the firm as well as the commitment of the firm to provide adequate resources for the project. It is also important to ensure that the

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

architect implements a quality-control process. Sometimes there is institutional pressure to engage unproven or unqualified individuals or finns, a practice that the committee found to be a source of major problems. If a design professional firm lacking appropriate qualifications must be retained (e.g., because of institutional contracting policies), serious efforts should be made to ensure that the laboratory design work is handled by a qualified design professional finn. Additional advice on selecting a design professional is detailed in Appendix D. Finding and engaging the right laboratory design finn is one of the most critical steps in the renovation/construction project.

The design professional often selects the engineering or architectural and engineering design finn, which is another reason the correct choice of the design professional is critical to the success of the project. If the design professional finn is an architectural finn with in-house laboratory programmers, it may provide the architectural or A&E design services. If it is a laboratory programming firm, the A&E design may be done by the selected architectural finn, preferably one that has worked successfully with the selected laboratory programming finn. In any case, it is important that the engineering design firm be as highly qualified as the design professional, and that it be involved early in the design process, along with other appropriate consultants and experts in specialties such as fire, access and other facilities for the disabled, ventilation, and safety and environment. It may also be advisable to engage a consulting contractor for review of the constructibility of the proposed design. The selected design professional firm often recommends many of these other participants for the client's approval.

The members of the design group will form committees and teams with members of the client group, such as staff architects and facilities personnel, as discussed in Chapter 2.

Construction Group

The construction group, illustrated in Figure 1.3, includes the general contractor, subcontractors, and, in some cases, suppliers of specialized materials and equipment. For large or complex projects a construction manager is often hired by the client group and so is a member of that group. The construction manager is often more familiar with local building costs than the architectural design firm and therefore can better estimate the cost of the project as well as coordinate the different stages of the construction.

The choice of the general contractor is critical because laboratory construction requires an attention to detail beyond that necessary for many building projects. As is the case with the design professionals, the experience and previous work of potential contractors should be carefully evaluated. If project time is short, it may be advisable to involve the contractor at an early stage of the design process for input regarding the availability of materials and personnel.

In the construction phase, this group will form committees and teams with

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

members of the client group including the project manager and appropriate representatives from the physical plant including maintenance and utilities. The building commissioning expert, a special consultant of the client group, may also be included.

Larger Community Group

The final group of participants critical to the process are stakeholders who are not members of the client, predesign/design, or construction groups. This group includes affected nonusers, as well as representatives of the community, government agencies, and public utilities.

Affected nonusers are members of the institution who are not in the client group but whose work will be affected by the project. They include, for example, occupants of adjacent laboratories, occupants of other floors of the building undergoing renovation, or occupants of neighboring buildings affected by noise or disruption of electrical service during the construction project.

Members of the community group include the neighboring community and other, more specific interest groups such as neighbors and nongovernmental groups who may have an interest in, and concerns about, the laboratory. Their concerns can cause difficulties if not addressed appropriately.

A number of government agencies are also included in the community group. These are ''agencies having jurisdiction" and include local, county, regional, state, and federal representatives. They are concerned with zoning, code compliance, environmental issues, construction standards, etc., and they provide permits and inspections.

All these members of the larger community group need to participate in the process at an early stage because their own work and environment are affected by the project. The institute's offices involved in external relations can help to provide the interface between the project and the community and to ensure that information is transmitted clearly and effectively. When needed, EH&S staff can provide technical support to the external relations office.

SOCIOLOGY

The sociology of building projects has two aspects: the interactions between participants involved in the construction or renovation and the human needs that must be met by the completed project. Interactions are facilitated by effective communication and shared input. Many of the problems that arise in a building project are due to lack of interest, experience, or knowledge on the part of users, lack of understanding of specific user needs by designers, and potential mistrust among other stakeholders in the community. This section provides suggestions to organize and facilitate efficient communication between diverse parties at different phases of a laboratory construction or renovation project.

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

The human needs of the project are met by design features. These include items that reflect the basic philosophy of the institution, such as mixed use, shared versus individual labs, modular design, relation of offices to labs, number and types of public spaces, and concerns of the community; and features that address human needs, such as location and quality of reading rooms and rest rooms, safe corridor design, and overall convenience, aesthetics, and security. These design considerations are discussed below.

Need for Shared Input

Human interactions affect building projects in diverse ways. This section deals with the need for and means of involving a diverse group of people in the planning, design, and construction of the project. Here the committee focuses primarily on the client group and specifically on the client team and how it must interact with users and other institutional groups as well as outside parties.

Relationships between the many different groups of people involved in a building project are extremely important. Users, building maintenance staff (including engineers, mechanics, service technicians, and janitors), administrators, executives, architects, builders, and community members all need to have the opportunity for open communication. Their participation is essential both for useful and necessary input and for imparting a sense of ownership to the people who will use or who may be affected by the facility. It may be a challenge to achieve this level of communication while maintaining clear lines of responsibility and reasonable efficiency in the process, but early and continued user involvement often substantially lowers the number of costly change orders. The client team can structure the flow of information and ideas because its members represent the separate facets of the project, as discussed in the "Participants" section of this chapter. Continuity of project leadership is extremely important and should be maintained to the greatest extent possible. Communications with the community is discussed in the "Community Relations" section of this chapter.

All users have ideas about how their laboratories and offices should be organized, but few have been involved in the design of new facilities. Many directly transfer their current situation, no matter how it evolved, to design ideas for new facilities. Thus input into the process and aspirations for the completed building are strongly influenced by personal and local history. Because users can provide useful insight into possible near-and long-term uses and research directions, they should be encouraged to assess both current and future needs. The committee strongly recommends that users be centrally involved in all phases of the building process and that responses be given to all users' questions, suggestions, and ideas. However, for their input to be effective users need to be exposed to new and alternate ways that buildings and facilities can be designed to meet their needs. Focus groups and visits to other sites are one way to gen-

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

erate ideas and provide examples to be emulated or avoided; other ideas are presented in the "Design Considerations" section of Chapter 3. To ensure an understanding of financial constraints and to base the project on realistic aspirations, users should also be included in budget presentations and discussions from the start. Later in the process it is extremely useful to help users visualize the final product through, for example, the use of three-dimensional computer-assisted design technology or the construction of full-scale laboratory mockups. Successive designs resulting from comments and suggestions should always be shown. Reasonable interaction of users with architects and design professionals should be allowed, and suggestions should be solicited and responded to. The cost of helping users see and understand what will be built before construction has begun will be recaptured many times over by minimizing costly change orders.

No single size fits all. A uniform design strategy cannot be dictated. Different laboratory uses will require different laboratory specifications. Specific needs can include the handling of wet, dry, toxic, and biohazardous materials; elimination of vibration; and provision of clean power, pure water, and filtered air. Solutions to these needs will be further influenced by the different cultures found in academic, industrial, and government research settings. But the need for communication and the need to include everyone at some level of the process is common to all projects. As an important bonus, the involvement of more minds in the process will add substantially to the total institutional memory, which may be called on for subsequent renovations or other related projects.

Role of the User Representative

The user representative on the client team facilitates users' involvement in the process from start to finish and provides a conduit of information to the administrative authority that will be concerned with overall management of the completed project, such as a college dean, department chair, or research director. This person, typically selected by the administrative authority from among the users, should be someone who recognizes the need to assemble and articulate users' thoughts and needs and who has the respect and confidence of the users.

The user representative should interact with all users in an efficient and open manner. Although it is important to actively include all users in planning, often the number of people and the range of needs are large and diverse, causing input into the planning of large projects to be extremely inefficient and to become so ineffective that busy people lose interest and cease to be involved. This problem can be addressed by creating some form of organization to provide a hierarchical grouping of voices. On the other hand, especially in institutions in which hierarchical structure is the norm, it is critical that all members of the unit understand that they have a part in the planning process and are encouraged to

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

participate. Users can be grouped by shared facility needs or common interests; for example, floors or wings of the building can be established around subgroups that normally use similar techniques or study common problems. The users can then meet in these groups for planning and review sessions during the life of the project. It is often useful to make the laboratory design reflect these associations. If such a set of subgroups is established, a spokesperson can be selected from each to meet on a regular basis with representatives from the other groups, ensuring the sharing and pooling of ideas from all users while holding the process to a reasonable number of people. This interaction can lead to a heightened appreciation and understanding of the work of members of other subgroups and may even be useful in planning the siting of diverse groups within the building. The user representative should organize this entire effort, chair meetings of the group representatives, and ensure that users' input is included in the design of the building. In this way all users have direct involvement in the project, but everyone need not meet with all parties all of the time.

All parties should be kept informed of the progress; the client group should consider issuing some form of newsletter, possibly by e-mail, in addition to making occasional formal presentations to all the users. Even during the construction phase, user review and feedback can prevent mistakes in interpretation of desires and can, within reason, keep the project up to date with changing needs or personnel.

Building renovation projects share many of the needs of new construction but require careful additional attention to transition needs and plans for temporary housing during the project. Will some people have to make multiple moves? Is the schedule carefully worked out with input from all affected parties to minimize problems or at least avoid perceived unfair variations in degree of inconvenience?

Final Product Considerations

Acceptable designs reflect the specific technical concerns of the users as well as the needs and desires of the institution and will thus vary from project to project. (Some of these details are discussed in the "Design Considerations" and "Environmental Health and Safety" sections of Chapter 3. Cost implications are discussed in the "Research Laboratory Costs" section of Chapter 3.) In the ways indicated below, however, all buildings affect how people work with and relate to other people in their immediate and daily environment. Some of the topics discussed here might be addressed at one time for all the members of the client group; others might be covered in each or only some of the subgroup meetings. Some involve policy decisions that should be made before the basic plan for the project is initiated; others can be accommodated at later stages.

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×
Internally Focused Issues

Mixed Use and Physical Layout. The utility of and problems associated with mixing functions such as formal teaching and research, research in diverse disciplines, or research that uses very diverse technologies or reagents should be considered in planning the renovation or construction of a laboratory facility. The building layout can encourage beneficial cross-fertilization or, if necessary, can isolate groups or functions that might have a negative impact on each other because of traffic flow, vibration, physical or biological contamination, or other factors. The effects of physical layout on daily encounters (horizontal versus vertical) and collegial interactions should also be evaluated. These basic planning issues should be considered early in the overall process.

Shared Resources. The advantages and disadvantages of open laboratories, in which the personnel associated with principal investigators working in related areas share a large open space and common equipment rooms, should be considered at the earliest stages of planning. Proponents argue that both efficient use of space and constructive interactions occur in this arrangement, although the issues of how many research groups can productively and safely share a common equipment facility and how such areas might be administered and maintained must also be addressed, as must decisions regarding the scale and organization of efforts to meet common needs such as glassware washing, chemical and other storage, and stockrooms. Thus, although building-design exercises can actually drive organizational changes, it is extremely important to understand and anticipate the impact of space use on local group dynamics in order to avoid unfortunate and counterproductive organizational schemes.

Offices. The quality and size of offices, including issues such as number of windows, whether they can be opened, who gets a separate office, and the relationship of the office to the laboratory (e.g., directly associated versus clustered with offices of other people doing similar work), can have a major impact on both efficiency and morale. Decisions about the relationship of offices to laboratories are fundamental and usually affect the design of the whole building, and should therefore be attended to early in the predesign phase. Similarly, solutions to the office needs of technicians, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research associates, and other professional staff can range from all offices sited in the laboratories to separate offices adjacent to the laboratory or, as for the faculty/scientists, clustered offices in spaces separate from the laboratories. While specific finishes and amenities will vary depending on the culture of the organization, electronic communication connections are common, essential, and changing so fast that added expense here, to provide excess capacity and thus future flexibility, is a worthwhile investment.

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

Degree of Uniformity/Flexibility. Although there are often real savings in strict modular design, some level of custom design might be considered to allow individuals a certain degree of self-expression and thus increase overall morale. Some of this individual design might be accommodated in portions of laboratories and offices without either compromising modular design or adding to cost. Simple ways to achieve individuality include user specification of paint or fabric colors.

Personal Workplaces in Laboratories. The amount and types of private space for laboratory workers should be considered, including design features such as partitions for privacy, lockers or locking cupboards for personal effects, and telephone and computer network outlets to satisfy both current and projected communication needs. Extra conduits or other provisions for future connections should be considered to accommodate growth and change.

Assembly Areas for Building Occupants. The building should include places where people can eat and meet in locations separate from laboratories. Effective planning requires a basic understanding of the kinds of formal and informal meetings the organization encourages. Planning should address whether there are special technical needs for meeting spaces, such as video conferencing capabilities, and the number of meeting and seminar rooms (the latter is often a special problem in industrial settings where classrooms are unavailable to fill in for this function). If workers have meetings where food is offered, planners must determine the organization's attitudes and policies concerning eating facilities (in descending order: dining room/cafeteria, kitchen, vending machines, microwave, coffeepot), including provisions for food-only refrigerators in work areas, even if there is a cafeteria, to allow workers who bring food from home to eat with others who buy their food. Subsidized food service has been found to be a useful way to keep workers on site and promote cross-fertilization of ideas. The building design should create opportunities for informal and spontaneous interactions; for example, markerboards in hallways or in niches can be very useful in promoting serious conversations in these settings.

Access Control. Access control is necessary in areas presenting health or safety risks. However, plans should be no more restrictive than necessary lest the impacted laboratory personnel abandon them. This issue is discussed further in the "Environmental Health and Safety" section of Chapter 3.

Library/Reading Room. The library or reading room should be comfortable and easily accessible at all times, and should contain provisions for future expansion of electronic capabilities. For a new building, the occupants should consider how they will organize and maintain the books and other resource and reference

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

materials. They should explore design elements, such as storage or workspace, that will make maintenance of the collection easier.

Rest Rooms. Rest-room design should go beyond code considerations to ensure that the restrooms will be convenient and in locations deemed fair and accessible to all. Whether there is interest in, and/or a need for, a shower room(s) in the building, should be determined.

Corridors. Corridors should be sensibly scaled to make passage comfortable, but not so large as to encourage future fire code violations, such as use of the extra space for inappropriate storage or to place furniture. This situation illustrates the potential pitfall of a design feature that appears attractive at first but later becomes a nuisance. Long corridors should be avoided and, if possible, natural light should be provided to each major corridor.

Security. Interior and exterior lighting plans should be developed that are adequate for secure passage after dark. Outside pathways should be safe at all times. Additional items that must be addressed include a keying plan, with a hierarchical system of passkeys; plans to make the building both secure and accessible to the users; and, depending on the building context, possibly other, extraordinary provisions for added security.

Maintenance. Planners should seek surfaces, materials, and fixtures for both laboratories and offices that are easy to maintain, because many institutions have inadequate budgets for long-term maintenance. Although more expensive, it may be worth considering longer lasting, easily cleaned wall finishes, especially in laboratories. Planners should ensure that light fixtures can be reasonably maintained and take into account the daily needs of the maintenance staff.

Externally Focused Issues

The Community. The needs and concerns of affected neighbors must be addressed. It is therefore important to include discussions with relevant people about the final impact of a laboratory building or renovation project on both institutional and external neighbors. Issues to keep in mind include traffic congestion, the possibility of jealousy or envy of the new facility felt by other members of the institution, pollution, and any potential misunderstanding (occasionally fear or mistrust) of the facility's function, hazards, and aesthetic fit. Ways to engage the community are discussed below in the section "Community Relations."

Public Identity/Outreach. Depending on the mission of the institution and the amount and kind of traffic entering from outside the building, it may be worth-

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

while to include a public area for posters or other displays that inform visitors of the work going on in the laboratory facility. Some buildings contain a small museum or other organized display area. At the least, many buildings provide areas for the display of current posters from meetings, increasing collegial understanding within the building. Posted directories, possibly including photographs, are often useful, as is signage that makes it easy to find personnel and facilities.

Aesthetic Environment. Planners should give thought to color schemes and light levels beyond minimal standards. Appropriateness of specific task lighting should be discussed with the users. A landscape plan that provides enjoyable plantings and furniture that encourages outdoor gatherings should be sought, if appropriate. Window treatments should be pleasing but practical, and a plan to include artwork in the building should be considered (for example, some university museums lend paintings and sculptures to buildings).

Access from Outside. It is usually necessary to include a parking plan. If appropriate, efforts should be made to ensure handy connections to other transportation options, such as easy access to bus stops or other forms of mass transit, and adequate bicycle parking.

Pollution Prevention. Planners should formulate a plan for convenient removal of the different kinds of waste likely to be generated in the facility. They should determine if there is an institutional practice (or even facility) in place for shared use of used and unused reagents, and if there is a recycling plan. Laboratory waste regulations, management, and storage are discussed in Chapter 3.

Equal Access. As mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, the needs of physically impaired users must be addressed. Often early planning with users' input can meet this requirement without incurring excessive extra costs or compromising the effectiveness of the project.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Successful siting, construction, and use of a new laboratory building require effective communication and information exchange with the surrounding community, just as they do with the internal stakeholders in the process. Neglect of the community's concerns and opinions may create delays, increased costs, and, in a worst-case scenario, laboratories that cannot be occupied (for an example of such a case in San Francisco, see Piller, 1991).

The construction of laboratories has not usually encountered the same level of neighborhood and environmental objections as have other projects—for instance, hazardous waste facilities, power plants, or low-income housing (Popper,

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

1991). A few communities—notably those with large populations of scientists and engineers—may show little concern at the prospect of an environmentally well-designed laboratory being built. But others may be more apprehensive, less trusting, or both. Community concern about laboratory construction will probably continue to increase because of the growing number of laboratories; the public's widespread fear of chemicals and biohazards; its growing awareness of environmental issues, such as air pollution; and its annoyance at the hazards and inconvenience of all large construction projects, such as increased traffic problems. In some locations, if a community seriously resists a laboratory, it will not be built (New York Times, 1999). Effective community relations can prevent this outcome by legitimately allaying community concerns.

There are many legal requirements for community involvement, discussed in detail in the section "Environmental Health and Safety" in Chapter 3. These requirements include a federal environmental assessment (mandated by the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act when construction necessitates federal financing or licensing); analogous requirements in most states when state funding or licensing is needed; local land-use ordinances; and federal, state, and local air pollution, water pollution, hazardous waste, and historic and archaeological preservation laws. At the same time, the required community involvement offers the institution building or renovating a laboratory an opportunity to deal constructively with the community's concerns.

In addition, even if the institution is relatively self-contained, the community generally takes part in emergency planning for the operating laboratory building if a laboratory emergency or some other form of emergency is likely to have an impact on it. Under Title III of the 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), facilities whose levels of hazardous waste exceed set thresholds must let potential outside emergency responders know what substances exist in the facility (see the section "Environmental Health and Safety" in Chapter 3 for further discussion of regulations).

Thus, representatives of the external community must be among the participants throughout the project, beginning with its earliest planning phase—and preferably with the institution's development master plan—before the construction project even begins. Although, in the past, institutions seeking to build laboratories could ignore the surrounding communities, this approach no longer works—tactically, ethically, or environmentally—for either the institution or the community.

Helpful Practices and Resources

By far the best method of ensuring the completion of a proposed laboratory facility is to actively engage the surrounding community early in the planning process. Moreover, even apart from building or renovating laboratories, contin-

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

ual interactions with an informed community affords an institution the best opportunity for long-term good-neighbor relations. Adversarial interactions may occur and some opposition groups may never be satisfied, but negative reactions to new laboratory construction often reflect a basic failure by the institution to engage and inform the community in the first place. Resources and mechanisms for beneficial engagement and information exchange are suggested below.

The Institution's Community Relations and Public Relations Offices

The advice of community relations and public relations offices should be sought by a renovation or construction project's leaders early in the project, and these offices should remain involved throughout. In many situations one of them may be the institution's lead unit in responding to the community, and some institutions may want to formally designate the lead unit. For sensitive projects, it may also be advisable to provide media relations training to the project leader.

Community Advisory Boards

The community may establish an advisory board, consisting of respected community participants, to take part in the institution's planning process by meeting with high-level institutional representatives. Such a board can, for instance, express community responses to proposed institutional plans and changes in them.

In-house Advisory Boards and Related Mechanisms

The institution can use its staff to gain insight into community concerns about the proposed facility project, especially if some staff members share those concerns. An in-house advisory board is one possibility. Another is the use of staff members who are established, respected members of existing community organizations as liaisons to such groups.

Consulting Firms

If the institution's community relations and public relations offices lack resources, laboratory construction is new to the institution, or community sensitivity is expected, the institution should consider hiring a consulting firm specializing in community involvement and/or environmental impacts. Such professionals are experienced in recognizing potential sources of opposition and recommending responses. For a small fraction of the design costs, the institution can substantially reduce the chances of unfortunate incidents. Community rela-

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

tions consultants can often be useful beyond the design stage—for example, in reducing change orders and promoting long-term goodwill between the institution and the community.

Educational Outreach

Science education initiatives aimed at the community, such as open houses or programs in science education for teachers and children from the local schools, parent-teacher groups, or the community at large, are an excellent institutional investment. It is worthwhile for the institution to get to know the individuals in charge of local public schools and their special needs. In general, the institution's entire staff should be encouraged to participate in such outreach.

Chamber of Commerce and Similar Groups

The local chamber of commerce and similar groups can facilitate interaction with the local business community. Their meetings can provide an opportunity for communicating the institution's missions and for learning about the business community's concerns. Speakers who can clearly convey the economic and nonmarket values of the institution's research should be made available for such meetings with local leaders.

Anticipatory Actions

It is vital that the institution be aware of any groups that may have objections to laboratory construction. The institution needs to study the groups' positions and participants so that it can foresee their reactions and plan its response accordingly. In many cases engaging the organizations in public or private dialogue about the project has proved to be more mutually beneficial than the institution or the organizations expected. Other forms of anticipatory action might include keeping in close touch with government officials and using role-playing sessions to prepare for community meetings.

Local Media

The institution should provide positive information about its activities, ranging from scientific discoveries to staff recognition (such as national awards) to community contributions (such as food and blood donation drives, participation in the United Way) to the local media. The institution's past relations with the local media may influence the coverage of future stories.

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
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Ongoing Regulation

The existing network of environmental laws provides formal mechanisms for informing the community and eliciting comments from it. In addition, the institution should maintain good relations with its regulators, advise them early of any projects that will require their attention, and perhaps request their input before it is legally required. These issues are discussed further in the section ''Environmental Health and Safety" in Chapter 3.

Consultation with Comparable Institutions

The institution should contact similar organizations that have recent laboratory construction experience to learn of the measures they took to interact with their community. What did they do right? What did they do wrong? What would they do differently?

Rumor Control and Risk Communication

The institution should keep the community informed of any potential risks the site poses, both to prevent misleading information and to promote credibility with the community. An office or staff member should be designated by the institution to track local reactions and publicize a hotline, Web site, or other points of contact through which the community or other interested parties, including the institution's own staff, can obtain accurate, timely information. All questions about the new facility should be directed to the designated office or spokesperson.

Master Planning

A publicly posted comprehensive plan for the site, the institution as a whole, or both can inform the surrounding community of the institution's intentions and changes in them. Such plans might include renderings or scale models of the future site that the institution can exhibit in its lobby or at a community open house.

Emergency Planning

In the event of accidents at a laboratory, the institution must have in place an emergency response plan and a team to carry it out. The plan and the team must comply with all relevant federal, state, and local laws, and the institution should inform the community in advance of its compliance actions. In California, for instance, facilities with more than 55 gallons of hazardous material must annual-

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×

ly submit a hazardous-materials inventory and a site map to the local emergency response agency.1 Elsewhere the extensive and detailed emergency plans and teams of manufacturing facilities may offer useful models for less experienced laboratories. These approaches typically designate one office or spokesperson as the prime point of information or community contact in an emergency.

Practices to Avoid

Some institutional practices can harm community relations by antagonizing the community, the regulatory agencies, or other parties. Such practices usually increase opposition to the institution's construction activities (and to its other activities as well). Examples of such practices are given below.

Engaging in Paternalistic, Technocratic, or Secretive Planning

In designing and building laboratories, clear and thoughtful communication with the surrounding community is essential. Paternalistic, technocratic, or secretive planning underestimates the power and interests of the community and projects an attitude of arrogance that typically backfires. Community members should feel that the facility's construction was done with the community, not in spite of it.

Ignoring Past Difficulties

The consequences of the institution's previous conduct toward the community, such as incidents of toxic dumping, well contamination, chemical explosions or fires, or releases of poisonous gases or radioactivity, will heighten local sensitivities to the risks the laboratory poses. Sensitivities may exist even if incidents happened at distant facilities, and will understandably be higher if the incidents occurred at a nearby laboratory operated by the institution that is now proposing another one. In such situations it may not matter much if the institution has changed leaders since a time of difficult community relations; local memories tend to be longer. Neighborhood or environmental groups formed because of previous incidents will inevitably focus their attention on a new project. The past cannot be undone, but careful and respectful community relations, as detailed above, may help mitigate future difficulties. It is the burden of the institution to prove itself to the community.

1  

California Health and Safety Code, Chapter 6.95, section 25501–25505.

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
×
Neglecting Community Differences

To some communities a laboratory built by an environmentally responsible institution is highly desirable because of the jobs and other economic development chances it offers. In other communities, entrenched local economic interests may object to a promised laboratory because it will increase the cost of labor in the community or otherwise alter existing economic arrangements. Variations in communities' attitudes are often linked to their economic status, but they may also depend on such factors as geographical location, political environment, and ethnic or racial makeup. It is important that the institution anticipate community reaction correctly.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To address the human issues in a laboratory construction or renovation project, the committee recommends the following actions:

  1. Provide institutional leadership. A person committed to the success of a laboratory renovation or construction project should be identified early in the project. This person will serve as the "champion" for the life of the project.

  2. Select an experienced design professional. A successful laboratory construction or renovation project requires the services of a design professional with demonstrated experience and success in laboratory design and construction of the type and scale required in the project. If institutional constraints preclude the selection of a suitably experienced architectural firm, an experienced laboratory consultant should be retained.

  3. Involve the users at an early stage. Users, through a committed user representative, should be involved in all phases of a laboratory construction or renovation project, with special emphasis on early planning. Mechanisms should be established to encourage the free flow of information among users and other participants.

  4. Choose an experienced general contractor. Laboratory construction requires greater-than-usual attention to detail; prior experience with technical buildings enhances the probability of success.

  5. Consider sociological needs. Physical layout can help or hinder interactions among all who will use a laboratory facility.

  6. Involve the community. Stay in close contact with the surrounding community throughout the laboratory construction or renovation project. Make use of the institution's external relations offices and community advisory boards, and avoid practices that might interfere with good community relations.

Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Human Issues." National Research Council. 2000. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9799.
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Laboratory facilities are complex, technically sophisticated, and mechanically intensive structures that are expensive to build and to maintain. Hundreds of decisions must be made before and during new construction or renovation that will determine how successfully the facility will function when completed and how successfully it can be maintained once put into service.

This book provides guidance on effective approaches for building laboratory facilities in the chemical and biochemical sciences. It contains both basic and laboratory-specific information addressed to the user community—the scientists and administrators who contract with design and construction experts. The book will also be important to the design and construction communities—the architects, laboratory designers, and engineers who will design the facility and the construction personnel who will build it—to help them communicate with the scientific community for whom they build laboratory facilities.

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