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The Human
Dimension of Sustainable Design: Human Factors Design at Incara
Pharmaceuticals
David P. Johnson, NBBJ
Abstract:
Historically, the functional requirements of laboratory design
have resulted in environments for equipment rather than environments
for researchers. This trend culminated during the 1960's in the "black-box" laboratory,
a windowless shell isolated from natural light and ventilation.
Recently, however, architects and scientists have rediscovered
the psychological benefits of daylight and greenery, and have even
postulated that research is stimulated by contact with nature
Furthermore, as robots, nano-machines, and computer simulations
replace bench science, fewer researchers are required to provide
the labor of equipment-driven experiments. As a result there are
fewer human-equipment interactions, and an increasing number of
human interactions, or collaborations. This liberation of intellectual
capital requires a new laboratory environment that facilitates
the exchange of ideas, and brings together the interdisciplinary
experts necessary for dynamic advance. The laboratory of the future
is essentially a social space, rife with humanist ambition, and
a complete reversal of the research factory embodied by many lab
buildings of the latter half of the 20th-century.
Incara Pharmaceuticals cell therapy suite is a focused study of
the human dimension of sustainability in laboratory design. Drawing
on Heschong Mahone Group research establishing the relationship
between day-lighting and increased student performance and retails
sales, as well as the environmental psychology scholarship of Judith
Heerwagen and Stephen and Rachel Kaplan, NBBJ delivered a project
capable of supporting high-level cognitive tasks over the sixteen-hour
experiment cycle. Unlike similar research environments, this 5000sf
suite emphasizes not only access to daylight, but views of nature,
color, flexible organization, and opportunities for social interaction.
Anecdotal productivity evidence provided by the occupants confirms
the value of human-factor design to the research enterprise.
Biography:
Not available at this time.
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