With the Washington University School of Medicine’s strategic goal in mind of increasing recruitment to achieve #2 ranking in NIH funding within 10 years, the Operations & Facilities Management department initiated a pilot project in 2018 to review peer benchmarks, revisit wet lab space guidelines used for recent campus research buildings and recommend new wet lab space guidelines going forward. This pilot grew into creation of a wet lab utilization program to study each department on campus annually.
Wet Lab Utilization Study Focus
The current departmental wet lab utilization studies serve to
- identify current and projected team sizes for each lab
- identify building and space types occupied by each lab
- identify opportunities for contraction or expansion by analyzing against the campus space guidelines
- use results to inform campus master space plan
- use results to inform highest and best use of space
- identify any need for vacated space planning
- be part of each department’s 5-year rolling space needs, reviewed annually
Next Steps
All departments have been assigned an individual planner for study completion. Current studies are expected to conclude by June 2021.
For more information about wet lab utilization studies, contact Mariah Harris, Director of Space Programming at mariahharris@wustl.edu.