This project is part of a parallel research endeavor with GSK Manufacturing. By simulating how scientists at the Upper Providence site interact with one another and the space around them, we hope to help assist future renovations in a range of GSK locations. This was motivated by GSK’s drive to improve spatial configuration within their organization, including various open office environments and even smart labs.
We hope this project will serve as both a packaged decision support system and a framework for GSK scientists and stakeholders to reconfigure with their own spatial inquiries and case studies. Our goals can be enumerated as below.
- Design a decision support tool that allows R&D to understand how changes to physical environments and adjacencies may have an impact on key workplace indicators. Encourage data-driven demonstration and discussion of decisions related to spatial changes.
- Employ spatial mathematical models to calculate key workplace indicators, including
- Space utilization
- Time accessibility between amenities
- Synergy, defined as potential for interaction among researchers
- Deploy the decision support tool as an evolving platform that exists in two forms:
- Tangible user interface “Tactile Matrix”
- Traditional executable application that can be used on personal machines with mouse and keyboard interface.
- Provide transparent source code and open source, off the shelf technologies that allows for adaptation and customization for various case studies and applications.
Screenshots courtesy of Nina Lutz.