The Challenge

A new executive at a global life sciences firm had a directive to expand lab, manufacturing and office facilities. However, several gaps put this mission at risk. There was no roadmap for the projects. Existing facility use wasn’t well understood. Employees were dissatisfied with current spaces. Plus, the organization lacked the resources, capacity and property development expertise necessary to address these challenges. They engaged Point B to develop a plan to optimize space use and manage near-term renovations as well as deliver the detailed five-year master plan needed to make business cases and capital requests to support anticipated growth.

Expert Assessment

Point B conducted in-depth surveys of each floor of the campus’ seven buildings. We looked at current and future use cases; interviewed teams to identify anticipated projects, headcount and requirements; and developed layouts illustrating the sites’ evolution from current-state, through five-year. Our assessment identified significant underutilized space and informed near- and long-term plans to improve spaces and use them more efficiently. 

Artful Execution 

While the five-year plan was essential for site and capital planning, low satisfaction with key workspaces had to be addressed in the short term to better retain and attract top life science talent. That meant immediately renovating multiple buildings to create capacity and improve the employee experience. Point B’s project leaders were engaged to plan and manage these efforts, addressing areas such as lab space, conference rooms, and office space. Throughout the process, we partnered with leadership and key stakeholders and delivered insights that helped align key players around priorities and plans.

Actionable Plans

We leveraged the breadth of Point B’s property development, project leadership and workforce experience expertise to develop an actionable roadmap. We prepared a comprehensive five-year master plan that integrates the space requirements of all of the customer’s business units. And we demonstrated that significant growth in manufacturing, lab and office areas could be accommodated within existing spaces, while also improving the employee experience with selective renovations.

Meaningful Results

  • A five-year, site-wide master plan supporting anticipated growth and capital planning.
  • Increased efficiency in existing space use, including identification and optimization of 25% underutilized space.
  • Skilled project leadership to manage near-term renovations.
  • Detailed modeling of near and long-term plans and their impacts on campus spaces.