Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation Participants, Process, and Product (2000) / Chapter Skim
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1 Human Issues
1 Human Issues
Pages 8-27
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From page 8... ...
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.
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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.
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CIncludes environmental site assessor, geotechnical consultant, community relations expert, construction manager, and cost expert.
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, and external relations (including public relations, legal affairs, publicity, etch. The client group may also include special consultants such as a construction manager, environmental site assessor, geo
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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)
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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)
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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 Filler, 1991~.
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; 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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