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By asking the right questions early, designers can maximise innovation at every scale.
Elon Musk has an ‘innovation equation’: time + people + materials = the ability to innovate. Love him or hate him, the prolific sharing of this calculation online speaks to the enormous value the ability to innovate holds in modern society. We all appreciate the gains sparked by the process of sharing, defending, and improving ideas in the pursuit of their implementation.
As a result, innovation is heavily invested in worldwide. 2022’s Global Innovation Index (GII) shows a boom in endowments1Scientific publications, research and development (R&D) expenditures, international patent filings and venture capital deals all on the rise. Global Innovation Index 2022., with global spending reaching a record high of almost 1.7 trillion dollars2UNESCO Institute for Statistics.. These investments mark the pursuit, support and nurturing of innovation as one of the biggest priorities of our time.
Enter the ‘innovation space’. Though their scale can vary considerably, some spanning continents and others contained within single rooms, each one is built to nurture ideas. To succeed, their precise alchemy calls for deep consideration at specific scales: District, Precinct, Hubs, Building and 1:1. The best results happen when designers pair certain questions with each scale at the initial design stages.
These questions are:
Whatever the size or requirements, designers can ask questions at the initial design stage to help create innovation spaces that are successful, inspire collaboration and lead to future exploration and development.
The design of innovation spaces requires consideration at an array of scales: District, Precinct, Hubs, Building and 1:1.
When considered at their largest scale, one of the most important things for an innovation space to establish is a common goal, meaning designers must ask “what are the unique shared aims and objectives?”. The answer will inform a clear vision that provides a strong basis for briefing and engagement. With everyone focusing on the immense potential of the whole district, this shared concept will provide a cohesive framework able contend with the sprawling distances of this scale.
Driven by the vision ‘to be a transformative and collaborative place of excellence solving global challenges to enhance and nurture lifelong health1Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct, The future of lifelong health, 2021-2024 Strategy., the Randwick Health and Innovation Precinct (RHIP) incorporates Sydney Children’s Hospital, Royal Hospital for Women, Lowe Institute, and the University of NSW. Clearly defined, these shared aims and objectives provide strong direction and incentive to expand innovation beyond its borders, attracting collaborative relationships locally and internationally2Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct, The future of lifelong health, 2021-2024 Strategy., setting the project apart as an exemplar innovation district.
Contending with great distances, multiple time zones, and different cultures, the most important thing for an innovation district to establish is shared values and objectives. Once established, these must inform opportunities for virtual and physical connections, information sharing and collaboration locally, nationally, and globally. Easy connection to transport routes and high levels of digital connectivity are vital for collaboration with regional and global partners and are key drivers to the districts’ viability and ongoing success.
Located at a key junction of University of NSW and the Hospitals, the UNSW School of Biomedical Science is an integral component in the precinct.
The building provides key translational research and education opportunities utilised by diverse groups within the RHIP and beyond.
An innovation precinct requires a vison that identifies opportunities to establish meaningful cross disciplinary relationships across the sectors, institutions, and typologies that define the space. Designers must establish the distinctive strengths of each facility and identify how they can be clustered to benefit each other, asking “How can clustering make these facilities stronger?”
Exploring the answer will take an innovation space from a place where buildings are simply located near one another to a place where they actively encourage innovation and creativity through interaction, as was the case with Tonsley Innovation District. Located 10km from Adelaide, Tonsley incorporates government, education, industry, and start-ups within the previously disused Mitsubishi Motors site. Several sectors are entwined here, all clustered around the Main Assembly Building (MAB) which forms the heart of the precinct with core facilities, amenities, and collaboration spaces.
An innovation precinct requires a vison that identifies opportunities to establish meaningful cross disciplinary relationships across the sectors, institutions, and typologies that define the space.
Several sectors are entwined within Tonsley all clustered around the Main Assembly Building (MAB) which forms the heart of the precinct with core facilities, amenities, and collaboration spaces.
Located 10km from Adelaide, Tonsley incorporates government, education, industry, and start-ups within the previously disused Mitsubishi Motors site.
Sectors at Tonsley include energy and mining, simulation and automation to medical devices and assisted technologies.
An innovation hub can differentiate itself from others through the incorporation of a defining element. The question “why choose this space over others,” helps identify which key industry groups or education facilities that will entice the best innovators to choose that offering over others – uniting them under a mutual benefit.
Designers must establish how to provide infrastructure and amenity that supports the established goal of convincing a project’s ideal user to stay, collaborate and contribute early. When combined with exceptional design, hubs can become beacons for ground breaking research – as is the case with South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAMHRI). Located within the Adelaide Biomed Precinct, SAMHRI has an iconic appearance which demands attention. However, it is its agile laboratories, specialist support spaces and core shared facilities that provide the points of difference that attracted multiple research institutions to the wider Adelaide BioMed City.
Located within the Adelaide Biomed Precinct, SAMHRI has an iconic appearance which demands attention.
Adelaide BioMed City is a hub for health and life sciences. It co-locates institutions from research, education and clinical care in a precinct in the heart of Adelaide. Its partners are the Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy + Research, University of Adelaide Health + Medical Sciences, University of South Australia Cancer Research.
Core specialist services including proteomics, metabolomics, mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, cryogenics, SPF animal, and microscopy are available to all researchers within SAMHRI and the wider precinct.
These research spaces can be adapted with minimal changes to existing infrastructure. While their high visibility and interconnectivity between research and workspace provides teams with the ability to share, create and test as research develops.
Within buildings, individual facilities can be incorporated to develop and grow ideas. At this scale, the innovation space belongs wholly to its users – becoming sanctuaries for creativity and experimentation. As a result, designers must provide space for ideas to be tested, translated, changed, and implemented. We must determine the right level of amenity and adaptability – asking “how can we help ideas to grow?”
The Incubator Building within the Qatar Science and Technology Park provides the flexibility and connectivity desired by industry, research, and start-ups. Located along a main precinct ‘spine’, the building is a central focal point for research that encourages the exploration of ideas. Core and prototyping facilities provide for varied, multi-discipline research, while interstitial plantrooms dotted across the large floor plates allow services to change with minimal disruption as research develops among groups and individuals.
Within buildings, individual facilities can be incorporated to develop and grow ideas. At this scale, the innovation space belongs wholly to its users – becoming sanctuaries for creativity and experimentation.
The Incubator Building within the Qatar Science and Technology Park provides the flexibility and connectivity desired by industry, research, and start-ups.
Located along a main precinct ‘spine’, the building is a central focal point for research that encourages the exploration of ideas.
Core and prototyping facilities provide for varied, multi-discipline research, while interstitial plantrooms dotted across the large floor plates allow services to change with minimal disruption as research develops among groups and individuals.
At an interpersonal scale, designers need to focus on providing the ‘glue’, or connective space, which binds people together – creating an environment that researchers can thrive in. Described as a ‘stickiness’ that attracts diverse collaborators and entices them to contribute to the organically growing ecosystem1PCA, Innovation Precinct Paper. , the question ‘what’s the glue?’ must be considered at the very beginning to be integrated seamlessly with the overall vision and design.
It’s important to remember that the priority is the design of welcoming and inclusive spaces that provide a sense of place and community. Outdoor areas that connect with nature, comfortable spaces to sit with a colleague, or a café with good coffee to chat 1:1 with a researcher from another institution are equally effective in this aim as work and research spaces.
Melbourne Connect provides the ‘glue’ for education, research, and industry via welcoming spaces designed for connection. Combining art with science, Space Gallery encourages easy engagement. Central garden Womin-djerring delivers quiet communal spaces to relax amongst indigenous plants. Cafes, restaurants, and childcare facilities are easily found, while multiple laneways connect with the wider community. Together, these elements supplying the ‘glue’ between incredible innovation facilities – providing binding interstitial space for connection and contemplation.
At an interpersonal scale, designers need to focus on providing the ‘glue’, or connective space, which binds people together – creating an environment that researchers can thrive in.
With the University of Melbourne’s School of Engineering at its core, Melbourne Connect provides extensive facilities to engage innovation including a series of flexible collaboration spaces, state-of-the-art AR and VR technologies and the prototyping and advanced manufacturing opportunities of the Telstra Creator Space. In conjunction with these facilities, it is the attractive architecture and welcoming spaces which provide the glue for education, research, and industry alike. The design understands that ideas are permeable and engages with the wider community. Multiple laneways provide pathways throughout bringing the outside in and integrating wider city.
The Space Gallery combines creative art with science, encouraging people to directly engage with digital bricks embedded into the façade encouraging exploration.
Womin-djerring is the central garden with indigenous planting providing visual connections from the interior and a quiet communal space where people can be in nature.
Multiple amenity opportunities are provided on site with cafes, restaurants, and childcare facilities.
When designers and stakeholders investigate the answers to these five questions at the relevant scales, an understanding of spatial requirements emerges. From macro to micro, this allows us to design space for innovation.
Passionate about education, health and research, Kerrie holds a diverse portfolio in both large- and small-scale projects, including the Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences (AHMS), Green Chemical Futures and AgriBio. Kerrie’s broad experience demands a range of specialist knowledge including research facility design, staged development within complex sites and the ability to sensitively distill complex stakeholder needs to inform functional design briefs. Intuitive and methodical, she is an expert at meeting the needs of the end users.
Media contact Tess Dolan Insights Leader – Global
Tess is Woods Bagot’s Global Insights Leader. Passionate about clarity, relevance and the creation of genuinely interesting content, Tess works with our innovators to create insights on the future of design, as applied to its impact on how we live, work, travel, play, learn, stay healthy and anything in-between. See Woods Bagot’s Journal for more.
Adelaide, Australia