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BUILDING FOR SUCCESS Lab designers nurture research with views, quiet nooks, coffee, and a dash of whimsy Sophie L. Wilkinson C&EN Washington
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research facility has a personality. For good or ill, that personality can i affect the mood, efficiency, and creativity of the facility's occupants and the success of the institution they work for. "Buildings can be designed to inhibit research, and an optimal design can promote research," says Bruce Stillman, director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, in New York. In the quest for a congenial atmosphere, it is not sufficient simply to come up with a design that incorporates all the latest technical bells and whistles. "Science is more than technology, tools, and equipment," says Joseph M. Phillips, direcAccess to natural light and views humanizes laboratories, as seen In Rhône-Poulenc Rorer's Collegeville, Pa., research and development facility (below). And quirky features, like the flnlal atop a gazebo—modeled after an adenovirus— at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, create a sense of fun.
tor of laboratory planning and design and a principal with architectural and engineering firm CUH2A, Princeton, N.J. "To create a good laboratory building it is essential to view science as a human endeavor, not as a technology-driven activity." But for that very reason, it must be acknowledged that people can make do in a
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defective building, or fail in a great one. "A building can help better science happen— because it is more comfortable, it creates more collaboration, it gives people space for quiet and contemplative focus," notes Phillips, who was a scientist for a dozen years before he became an architect. But science also "happens at home, or on a bicycle ride. The 'eurekas!' come in the bathtub. The laboratory building just happens to be a place where scientists can conduct experiments, and it's our job to help support that, to make sure it is a productive, reliable, safe, and pleasant environment for people to work and be creative." What are some of the ways to do that? William H. Grover, a partner with Centerbrook, an architectural and planning firm in Centerbrook, Conn., suggests that it's best to avoid clumping scientists in huge groups where they may feel anonymous and instead to create "smaller groups of offices surrounding places where people can bump into each other. Keep the central coffee pot so people can't hide in their offices all day. It is the interaction between scientists that really causes the great ideas to come out." And he believes "a peaceful setting, preferably where you can get out of the laboratory into natural surroundings with trees, grass, and water," can pay dividends. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where Centerbrook has been doing work for a quarter century, is just such a place. It sits on an old whaling-era village site. The institution includes several small houses that have been converted for research and administrative functions while maintaining the village atmosphere, Stillman says. Because Cold Spring Harbor is situated on a steep hill that runs down to the harbor, most floors in buildings on the site have ground-level access. This "gives a feeling that you're not in a kind of tower, you are not going to have to go up and down elevators all the time, that you can walk outside easily and go from one building to another very easily," Stillman adds. The institution also features laige staircases so scientists can "move from one floor to another without even thinking that they are doing that," Stillman says. Also, because of the local geography and building design, "people can see outside very easily and all the buildings have good views," he says. "This is all conducive to having people in the lab," Stillman notes. "They want to be there. They don't want to go home!" And if the lab itself can be made attractive, Phillips says, it can serve as "a magnet that people aren't fleeing from to FEBRUARY 15, 1999 C&EN 5 3
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science/technology take a break. If people can take a break simply by looking out the window and resting their eyes, they are probably go ing to be more productive than if they leave the laboratory and go seek out a pleasant place to sit." The appeal of the work environment is extraordinarily important, says William H. Beers, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Scripps Research In stitute, La Jolla, Calif., where the new Beckman building was dedicated in 1996. Creating the sensation that a lab is a special place can be uplifting. "When you walk in the Beckman building," Beers says, "you see this huge five-story gallery with bridges and a skylight over the top of it. People gasp, and it is very striking. There are plenty of university administrators who would pooh-pooh that and say it is not worth the premium you pay. But when we work out the cost of our laboratories, they are not that much more expensive than the national average." The Beckman Center cost about $56 million. Quirky, playful features can also lighten the mood and create a sense of fun, Grover says. "Architecture for research labs ought to be a little bit wacky in a way that makes people feel that somebody cared about the space and tried to make some thing special for them. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money. It doesn't mean put ting marble all over everything." In fact, extravagance can be counter productive. "There tends to be a reaction
saying, Ί would rather have two more feet of bench space than that stainless steel door on my office,' " Grover explains.
Coffee chemistry
One feature architects, chemists, engineers, and ex ecutives agree on is that there needs to be a place for employees to mix. "It's real easy to get lost in a laboratory and never see anybody," Beers says. "If you can create reasons for peo ple to get out of the lab and start bumping into their co workers, you foster a lot more interchange." Often the lure is coffee, or space outside labs and offices to spread out paperwork. Cold Spring Harbor offers free coffee all over its campus in small kitchens and coffee spaces. Connecting doors be tween labs also encourages researchers to interact, Stillman says. That way a scientist doesn't have to go out into The atrium in Scripps Research Institute's Beckman the corridor and then back in building draws gasps of awe from visitors and uplifts another door to reach an adja scientists. cent lab. Scripps has seating areas scattered the lab equipment has been placed in about the atriums in its buildings. In corridors adjacent to the galleries to some of the campus' facilities, much of draw staffers out into the open spaces. Fire-code changes have prevented Scripps from using this technique recent ly, however. This benevolent manipulation really works. "Any time of the day you can see some group of people getting together and talking, going over their data or checking notes," Beers says. Scientists who take advantage of these areas generally don't need to wor ry that they will be perceived as goofing off, though Beers admits "one person got very upset when somebody objected to their taking a nap in the gallery." Douglas E. Aldrich, global manager for laboratory facilities at Dow Corning, Midland, Mich., tends to tuck his build ings' gathering places away so "manag ers can't look out their windows and count noses as to who is sitting there." He gives these areas a good view, and tries to make them interesting. In a cur rent project in Belgium, for example, he may create a deli atmosphere, with sandwiches and coffee available for A writing board in the corridor encourages impromptu gatherings at the University of lunch. Maryland's Baltimore health sciences facility. 54 FEBRUARY 15, 1999 C&EN
Labs gain flexibility, shelter equipment of greater sensitivity Philosophical and sociological changes aren't the only factors reshaping re search facilities. Trends in lab equip ment, electronics, and experimental scale are all impacting design. Falling computer costs, for example, mean that everyone now has one, says Joseph M. Phillips, director of laboratory planning and design with CUH2A, Prince ton, Ν J. "We are having to put more space per person to accommodate a com puter on a desk or computer-driven in strumentation," he says. Robotics are also becoming more common. This has altered the nature of lab furni ture. "Laboratory benches for wet labora tory science don't work very well for in strumentation, so the form of laboratory benches has changed," Phillips says. "That change is an essential dimensional characteristic in the planning module for a laboratory." The traditional lab with back-to-back, fixed-base cabinets topped with shelves for reagents was designed for the glass
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ware-based experiments of 70 years ago, explains P. Richard Rittelmann, execu tive vice president of Burt Hill Kosar Rit telmann Associates, an architecture, engi neering, and design firm in Butler, Pa. The apparatus could easily be accessed from thefront,unlike today's electronicsheavy setups. Nowadays, he says, "you watch people climbing up on the counter to get at the apparatus, reaching around behind it to make connections or adjust ments, with the reagent shelf that they don't use for reagents anymore getting in the way." Labs can be made more user-friendly by including a service alley to provide ac cess to the rear of instruments and to util ities, Phillips suggests. An alternative that Rittelmann recom mends is the purchase of good-quality, very stable lab tables that can be re arranged by in-house staff rather than by contractors. Electronic racking equip ment can be used to house electronic gear, keeping it off valuable work surfac-
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Traditional lab layouts (top) are ill-suited for modern benchtop instruments, but service alleys in contemporary designs (bottom) improve access to instruments and utilities.
es and making it easy to reach. Such a de sign has the further advantage of being less expensive than the conventional lab layout, he says. Another lab trend concerns an in creased emphasis on safety. New facili ties at the University of Wisconsin, Mad ison, will incorporate larger and more numerous hoods in response to this trend, says professor emeritus and building committee chairman Donald F. Gaines. Safety, economy, and the enhanced capabilities of new types of analytical equipment are behind the continuing shift from macro- to microscale experi mentation. This trend is diminishing the volume of utilities needed to sup port a lab, Rittelmann says. At the same time, the desired variety and quality of utilities is broadening. It used to be common to install a house vacuum system throughout an entire research building, for example. But these days, Rittelmann says, "one vacuum pressure frequently isn't suit able for all the labs. So they have tend ed to abandon the central vacu um system and gone with local §• vacuum pumps to create the vacέ uum they need for their particu lar processes." And because the volume of gas needed by experimentalists has dropped, house gas systems are being replaced with bottled gas. This reduction in the need for fixed, expensive house systems reduces lab construction costs and also boosts layout flexibility, Rittelmann says. Unfortunately, stray signals giv en off by the rising number of electronic devices is wreaking havoc with the electromagnetic environment, Rittelmann says. And labs that rely on increasing ly sensitive electronic equipment must be protected from this elec tromagnetic pollution with shield ing devices. The increasing sensitivity of in struments also demands that care be taken to avoid vibration, Rittel mann says. After all, "a scanning electron microscope is a lot more sensitive to vibration than a 400power optical microscope." The least expensive and easiest way to escape vibration is to put sensitive equipment on the ground floor. If it must go on oth er floors, Rittelmann says, the building can be stiffened, or vi brations can be dampened out lo cally with vibration-resistant lab tables. FEBRUARY 15, 1999 C&EN 55
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science/technology space needed, and allow for enough total space to support growth of the • Don't skimp on systems, advises organization. The architects, engineers, and scientists • Avoid creating identical spaces interviewed for this article offered the William H. Beers, senior vice president following advice to those who are plan and chief operating officer at Scripps Re for everyone, says William H. Grover, a search Institute, La Jolla, Calif. If you cut partner with Centerbrook, an architec ning a research facility: • Enlist "somebody like myself who corners on the air-handling system, for tural and planning firm in Centercan take a building project on without instance, "you will have an albatross for brook, Conn. "Everybody does feel like they are equal" in such environments, jeopardizing a research program," says the life of the building." • Don't underestimate the amount he says, "but they don't feel that they Donald F. Gaines, a professor emeritus in the chemistry department at the Uni of office space or conference room are individual." • Accept that it's hard to versity of Wisconsin, Madison, | keep a lab up-to-date. As one of and chairman of the depart I the site supervisors said to ment's building committee. ι Gaines: "Like hospitals, labora "These projects eat up time like tory buildings are usually obso you wouldn't believe." lete by the time they are fin • Establish a realistic expec ished." So it's best to enable tation of the project's budget n graceful adaptation to change with the help of a professional and to limit its impact on pro cost estimator. ductivity. Joseph M. Phillips, di • Consider hiring a consulting rector of laboratory planning firm for projects in academe, and design with architectural Gaines says. "In Wisconsin, if you and engineering firm CUH2A, don't have a consultant and you Princeton, N.J., recommends come in with some sketches on "creating an infrastructure that the back of an old envelope, it's allows you to manipulate spaces hard to get the administration to and utilities so that change oc pay attention." curs over a weekend instead of • Get good architects who Construction supervisor David L. Kemp (left), Gaines, have experience in lab design and electrical contractor foreman Pete Buchanan gather over a month." This favors the and can understand the science at the construction site of the new chemistry building at design of open labs that have fewer walls to move. that is going on in the building. the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
May we suggest...
Aldrich isn't just trying to encourage high-tech, business-related conversations in these mixing bowls. Personal chat about kids or sports that goes on over a cup of coffee builds relationships, he says. And when those people later come together in a working team, "they get right down to brass tacks quicker, they trust each other's input more." The University of Wisconsin, Madi son—being constrained by the state and a limited budget—has not tried to incor porate separate areas for mingling in its designs. It is putting $40 million into ren ovations of its chemistry building and new construction to house synthetic chemical research, instrumentation, and administration. The basement floor of the addition was poured early in Decem ber, and the building should be finished by summer 2000. The renovation will be complete by fall 2001. Despite the constraints, other ways can be found to bring people together. The university plans to group student desks together in small rooms in the new building's offices. The rooms will be sep arate from the rest of the lab, but will have glass windows so the students can see out and keep an eye on their experi ments. "So that becomes a meeting 56
FEBRUARY 15, 1999 C&EN
place," says Donald F. Gaines, professor emeritus in Wisconsin's chemistry de partment and chairman of the building committee. "People working together create their own space of that sort."
The shift to greater interaction in some cases bumps up against barriers im posed by traditional lab layouts. "Many companies still have a 600-sq-ft lab, and that lab is a fiefdom owned by a princi-
Pflzer's new lab, under construction in Groton, Conn., will benefit from researchers' feedback on lab mock-ups.
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Just about any pharmaceutical fine chemical supplier could deliver the cGMP intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients that he needs. And he could count on most suppliers to do exactly what he asked them to do. But he wants vendors who can help him sleep at night. And that's why he chooses PPG-SIPSY. From our outstanding manufacturing capability to our flexibility in meeting schedules other companies would find unreasonable, we're more than a source. We're a resource. The difference is technical expertise that extends your in-house capabilities. A culture that does more than meet your requirements. It anticipates them. And global customer service that proves itself with those "last minute" requests. The difference is not knowing where your organization ends and ours begins: in the lab, in purchasing, in manufacturing, and in quality assurance. At PPG-SIPSY, your goals are our goals. And we make it our business to meet them with you. The difference is getting sleep at night If you need a source for phosgene derivatives or pharmaceutical fine chemicals, discover the difference a resource can make. In the U.S., call 1-800-323-2487 or fax 412-434-2800. In Europe, call 33 2 41 96 61 55 or fax 33 2 41 42 76 55. Or e-mail us at
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pal researcher, two junior researchers, and two technicians," Aldrich says. And that setup gives off the impression that "the drawbridge is pulled up and the moat is full of water and piranhas." But Aldrich believes this inviolate environment is becoming a thing of the past. Labs are now becoming two, three, or four times bigger. This means that researchers can share equipment, which promotes interaction and has the added benefit of saving money, Aldrich notes. Dow Corning is also shrinking offices
and doing away with its libraries. That frees up space for more productive uses, such as housing noisy, dusty, or hot equipment in a separate room rather than have it messing up a lab. Conference rooms have been another beneficiary of this newly available space, particularly small ones. "Those little two- and four-person conference rooms are worth their weight in gold," Aldrich says. The company has learned these lessons through experience with several recent projects. After finishing its Midland
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58 FEBRUARY 15, 1999 C&EN
Ideas that worked well in one location were taken a step further in the next. In the U.S. lab, for instance, Aldrich brought together R&D staff from six different buildings. In the German lab, he drew in not just the development and technical service employees, but also the marketing people. And in Belgium, Aldrich is mixing together all these functions and distributing the staff throughout the building in product-centered teams. That way the marketing and businesspeople are right at hand for the chemists and can recommend economic and customer benefits for researchers to incorporate in the design of a product— and steer them away from features that customers won't really want, Aldrich says. Pfizer is also moving in this direction. Its buildings have traditionally been set up by discipline, segregating chemists on one floor, biologists on another, and drug metabolism people in another wing, for example. But the company will be drawing all these people together into project teams in its new building, says John L. LaMattina, vice president for U.S. discovery research at Pfizer Central Research, Groton, Conn. The new Groton lab, designated "220," will hold about 750 people, primarily drug discovery scientists working in fields such
RANBAXY We are India's leading pharmaceutical company with acknowledged strengths in R&D, technology and brand marketing. Our products are marketed in over 35 countries, and we have manufacturing facilities in 6 of them. Ranbaxy is the largest investor on R&D in the Indian pharmaceutical industry and has an expanding international portfolio of affiliates, joint ventures and alliances. In line with our Mission statement "To become a research based International Pharmaceutical Company", we are on continuous basis, upgrading our research capabilities. Our Research Centre is situated at Gurgaon (8 kms. from Delhi International Airport). We are looking for Senior Scientists in the following areas : COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY To enhance our capabilities in lead discovery and optimisation, we are looking for candidates having Ph.D. with post doctoral / industrial experience of over 5 years in molecular modelling of small molecules and creation of QSAR. Familiarity in pharmacophore discovery, 3-D database searching, molecular dynamics simulation, de-novo design and ligand docking is essential. Ability to analyse protein structure is desirable. As a key member of the multidisciplinary therapeutic project team, the computational chemist is expected to participate actively in the team involved in lead discovery and optimisation. COMBINATORIAL CHEMISTRY The candidate should be a Ph.D. in organic chemistry / medicinal chemistry with 5-8 years experience in drug discovery process out of which 2-3 years experience should be in the field of combinatorial chemistry. The scientist will be responsible for setting up the Laboratory and directing a group of chemists for creating libraries of chemically diverse NCE's for novel therapeutic targets. MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY The candidate will be responsible for innovating drug designing as well as structure - activity and relationship analysis of biological data. This will require the ability to interact with other scientists in an interdisciplinary team, execute target plan and communicate effectively. The candidate should be a Ph.D. with 6-9 years relevant industrial experience with expertise in medicinal and modern organic chemistry and familiarity with modern analytical techniques. MOLECULAR BIOLOGY A Molecular Biologist with proficiency in innovative molecular biology techniques and the vision to exploit them for drug discovery. He / she would be a part of the highly motivated NCEs screening team in pursuit of novel targets identification. Exposure to bioinformatics would be an additional advantage. The candidate must possess a Ph.D. with 5-8 years post-doctoral experience in relevant field preferably in industrial setting. BIOINFORMATICS We are looking for a scientist with prior experience in retrieval and analysis of genomic information and establishment of High Throughput Screening (HTS) assays. The candidate should have a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Mathematical Biology, Crystallography or Molecular Biology with at least 5-8 years of post doctoral/industrial experience out of which at least 2-3 years should be in the establishment of HTS assays. NOVEL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS The candidate must have technical knowledge, sound understanding and hands on experience in Oral controlled release systems. In addition, he/she must have knowledge of other drug delivery systems, polymer science, patents and international regulatory requirements for novel drug delivery systems. Good working knowledge of technology transfer, validation, documentation and cGMP aspects would be an added advantage. The candidate should be a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences with not less than 8 years of relevant experience. PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH The candidate must have technical knowledge, sound understanding of pharmaceutical developments for advanced markets. He / she must have hands on experience in achieving pharmaceutical and bio-equivalent products in line with International Regulatory guidelines. Good working knowledge of technology transfer, validation, documentation and cGMP aspects would be an added advantage. The candidate should at least be an M.Pharm. or a Ph.D. in Pharmacy with not less than 10 years relevant experience. These positions offer excellent opportunities for career growth. Remuneration package will match the best in the industry. Please apply within 15 days, superscribing the envelope with the position applied for, to .· Senior Manager - Human Resources Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited # 20, Sector - 18, Gurgaon - 122 001 (Haryana) India Fax : 91-124-342017 / 342030 E-mail :
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Aldrlch: no more lab flefdoms
as diabetes, neuroscience, and cardiovas cular research. Colocating product-oriented teams in the facility was an architectural and mechanical challenge, says Nicholas A. Saccomano, senior executive director of medicinal sciences at Pfizer Central Research. The entire heating/ventilat ing/air-conditioning, telecommunica tions, and plumbing infrastructure had to serve this diverse population. On top of that, the supporting functions—such as high-level instrumentation for chem ists and vivarium space for biologistshad to be integrated. At first, Saccomano recalls, staffers shown the plan virtually had an immune reaction to the concept. "How can I live on the same floor with those people that mix chemicals?" they cried. To help the staff make this sociological and psychological leap, the company built a full-scale labreplicain a nearby vacated department store. Pfizer brought in the staff who would eventually occupy the new lab to give them a chance to com ment on what would and wouldn't work, LaMattina says. Saccomano then incorpo rated the changes they suggested. As a result, "there's going to be no surprise when we move in at the end of the year," LaMattina says. "People are go ing to move into laboratories that they helped conceive of and helped design." Instead of facing down a mob of staff members that "couldn't stand this facility and were terrified at the notion of mov ing there," Saccomano says, he now must deal with another mob of people who are upset because they won't be able to move in.
Dow Corning also employed models for the Midland facility, which was the company's first major lab project in about 25 years. Aldrich built full-scale mock-ups of the labs and offices in a former library space using materials from a variety of manufacturers. A group that was in need of space moved into the model lab and served as a guinea pig for a year, giving Aldrich "feedback on little details like the location of door handles, the way the sink was arranged, piping for nitrogen and air." The mock-up also provided a realistic environment in which to gauge sound and light levels. At a cost of about $100,000, building the mock-up wasn't cheap, "but it was worth it for a $30 million building," Aldrich says. After the new facility was completed and the staff moved in, Aldrich waited for about three months in the case of the offices and six months in the case of the labs to do a thorough canvass of staff response. At that point, the issues that came up tended to be significant ones that needed to be fixed rather than things that just took some time to get used to. "If we go around in the first two weeks after we have done it," he says ruefully, "they are going to kill us." In all, Aldrich says, the four key steps to a successful project are allowing the staff an opportunity for input, showing them examples, giving them time to adjust, and then correcting the mistakes. In planning a building, really listening to the scientists who will work there is a must. "And the most important place I
How-to manual is coming Most institutions build new labs infrequently, and as a result suffer from a lack of established procedures, says Ruth McDiarmid, a senior program officer with the National Research Council's (NRC) Board on Chemical Sciences & Technology. "There is a risk that institutions will hire an architect and then sit back— and that just doesn't work." To help these beleaguered souls, NRC is working up a report on the design, construction, and renovation of chemical and biomedical laboratory facilities. The report, which will be available in mid-1999, will lay out the steps needed to build a superior lab, showing, for example, "how to find the right people, how to develop the right process, and how to establish effective lines of communication," McDiarmid says. The report will also cover criteria for renovation versus new construction, options for space allocation (such as how to choose the ratio between wet lab and office space or support space), and how to maximize longevity of the facility. McDiarmid, who points to Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif., as having successful laboratories, says, "We are trying to provide guidance so that every lab comes out that successful."
can do that is in their laboratory," Phillips says. That way, "I get to see how the existing building is being used." Even with the best will in the world, however, a lab designer and even a fel-
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Discover the latest Phosgene derivative: volume 2 The recent advance
Centerbrook Installed aluminum-clad lab pods in the restored pine Interior of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's Jones Laboratory originally built In 1895. The aluminum skin Is grounded to shield sensitive Instruments.
low scientist may not realize what is crit ical for the smooth operation of a partic ular researcher's lab. Scientists may want to orient lab benches so they can see all the staffers from their offices, Beers explains. Or a researcher may want to place a fume hood away from a high-traffic area in the lab. Consequently, nearly every lab at Scripps has been tailor-made to the spec ifications of the scientist using it. Sometimes, however, what a re searcher wants and what is good for the scientific process may come into con flict. In an academic setting, for example, "we would prefer that the principal in vestigator cannot get to his or her office without passing by the postdocs," Grover says. "So we built a central room sur rounded by the offices of the scientists and the postdocs." The room contains a table, TV, coffee pot, computers, and a refrigerator and serves as a gathering place. "Sometimes scientists are resistant to this," Grover says. "They would like to be able to sneak into their office, pull the shades, close the door, and do their work without anybody knowing they are there. But that doesn't always result in the most creative use of their time."
A room with a view Another sure source of tension con cerns the placement of labs and offices with respect to windows. Phillips says
the trend nowadays is to "turn laborato ries inside out, where offices are now on the interior as opposed to being on win dows." This is generating a "huge cultur al debate," since window access has pre viously been interpreted as a sign of achievement and status. Pfizer is going in this direction, in part because of a study Saccomano read about Scandinavian academic research ers. The paper showed that in the long, sunny days of summer they were very active and productive in the lab running experiments. But the researchers tended to be most creative in the long, dark, qui et winter months when "a lot of the ideas emerged." Saccomano has tried to accommodate this tendency, creating "quiet, not overly brightly lit areas" where researchers can be introspective or hold collaborative discussions. "This is where ideas can be nurtured, in a scholarly, cerebral type of atmosphere." The labs, on the other hand, "need to be bright and open and should catalyze a great level of activity. They should be a place where those individuals who have been charged with ideas can feel invigo rated to actually carry them out," Sacco mano says. So the offices, where the "idea min ers" sit, now go on the interior of the building, situated close together, and the labs go on the outside and are walled with glass, bringing in "an enormous
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