Common Miscalculations

  • Many planners start from historical benchmarks from similar projects. The risk is that’s like driving while only looking in the rear view mirror.

    At Marrow, we tend to build our initial models based on benchmarks but we take a lot of pride to test them, break them and refine them in collaboration with our clients specific to their science, operational process flows and the mission of the enterprise.

  • The density with which we can pack headcount into a given space is important, but we shouldn’t let efficiency overshadow efficacy.

    It’s worth while to have a conversation about process flows, adjacencies, travel time, throughput, equipment downtime, process improvements, quality of workplace experience, productive output.

    Less space configured in a thoughtful way or operated with a specific cadence could result in more productive output. Similarly, a smaller allocation of assignable area, giving more to storage and equipment area sounds counter intuitive, but can actually yield greater throughput from the assignable area.

    Executives and people managers often have difficulty assessing if their real estate is well-utilized. That’s a great reason to invite Marrow to the table.

  • Historical workplace and space planning treats density as utility. Don't kid yourself:

    people / space = density


    The more relevant formula for programming captures how much time it takes to do a thing, in which space, and whether that's hybrid work:

    (people x time ) / space = utilization

    But we can also take that a step further:

    ((people x time ) / space) x process quality = utility

    The point is that a potent planning conversation should have all of the variables - people, space, time and process - to qualify as substantive.

Have You Asked Yourself

  • Our workplaces - be it a lab, an a clinic, an office or a classroom - are first and foremost strength-multipliers. They are environments and infrastructure that augment what we can do such that we maximize our productive output. It’s not just a line item on a P&L.

    We help you ensure your spaces are fit for purpose. And purpose is different for different organizations, departments, different personalities, different processes. We help our clients navigate that nuance in a thoughtful, inclusive, data-driven and defensible form factor.

    Our process to help you answer that question usually looks something like this:

    1. What are the activities your people do in the space?

    2. What kind of environmental and infrastructural characteristics best support those activities?

    3. And what kind of configuration of those characteristics represent the right balance of tradeoffs for where your organization wants to go?

    In sum, start with purpose. Apply rigor. See where it goes - it’s usually someplace great.

  • At Marrow, our core competence in space planning and facility analytics was born from the architecture industry, having - programmed, planned, designed and administered construction on R&D projects across interdisciplinary academic research, life sciences and advanced industry for years.

    The design skillsets required to extract qualitative and technical information from end users and collaborators, communicate spatial and infrastructure concepts, model outcomes and build consensus across stakeholders with diverse backgrounds and competing incentives underpin every engagement.

    1. Map: Extract and validate qualitative and technical information from end users and collaborators. Model the space and infrastructure in a smart, virtual, 3D environment where we can extract data.

    2. Measure: Reconfigure the data to read out objective metrics for utilization. Score that utilization against current conditions, future conditions and a range of scenarios.

    3. Move: with confidence - knowing whatever solution we’ve concluded for your challenge was born of a rigorous process.

    Most planners and design firms try to avoid this work, since it’s time consuming and requires many meta skills operating cohesively. At Marrow, we’ve developed streamlined processes and technical proficiency as a survival mechanism to hold the whole problem in view. We find it’s not only more valuable to our clients but cost efficient for us to just put in the work - and that’s how we would help you answer this question.

  • Though the etymology of our competence was through architectural design and real estate advisory, our work is not architecture or real estate. It is space programming & planning (with a lean toward technically complex environments like laboratories and manufacturing) and facilities analytics (with lean toward data integration and visualization). This provides our clients with actionable strategic solutions for complicated challenges from green-lighting capital projects to day to day management of large, multisite portfolios.

    We believe this niche for Marrow exists due to market incentives. Many architecture firms are looking for a project to photograph and an army of CAD operators to keep billable. Many real estate advisors are looking to close the biggest deal possible in the quickest timeframe.

    Marrow is a true consultant. We see ourselves as an extension of your organization, giving you a step-change in capabilities to validate portfolio decisions with high fidelity, irrespective of whether a construction project or new lease is the answer.

    We score ourselves not by how glamorous the project is or how large the transaction. We measure our success on how confident you are with your decision making.

Resources

  • Equipment lists aren’t all created equal. You may not know here to start. You may be missing a lot of information. It’s ok to start on a napkin with a simple list and develop it from there. As the saying goes, there is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.

    The most critical items:

    1. Unique ID / Equipment Number (you can’t describe something you can’t name)

    2. Make and Model (if we have this, we can look up any technical spec. For this reason, avoid using generic terminology or slang)

    Next most critical items:

    1. Location (new or existing, can be a room, a bench, a team’s area)

    We have a great template with all of the relevant fields for you to catalogue your equipment and help a design team start scoping space allocation, environmental stability requirements, and engineering infrastructure. And it’s the same one we link to our custom script to create smart geometry in 3D modeling software in order to test different layouts with our users.

    If you’re interested in a copy of our equipment matrix template, reach out HERE.

  • Room data sheets are the room-version of an equipment matrix. It catalogues all of the architectural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, security, fixtures, furniture and equipment specifications of a given space. It serves as a framework for clients to articulate the performance requirements and general use of each type of room in an organized, technical way. Managing the details, so you can stay focused on the strategy.

    If you would like a copy, please reach out HERE.

  • Custom applications we built for our own practice, made available to anyone facing similar challenges.

    For practitioners who want something proven to augment their workflow and operators who need a specific problem solved without a full consulting engagement. These tools were built, used, and refined under real conditions before they were offered to anyone else.

    Coming soon…