The Living Lab: A Design Framework

Giyoung Park (HKS Architects)

What is a Living Lab? A living lab is a comprehensive design framework connecting the cycle of insight to design to impact, drawing on existing research and evolving with new data. Opportunities are first identified and narrowed to a set of defined goals. Baseline data collection starts before any interventions are implemented. An iterative cycle of modeling and testing occurs next, resolving with design solutions. After the design is carried out, impact is evaluated with new data collection to identify what has worked and what hasn't. Design features that are lacking in delivery can then present new goals to define and design for. This iterative cycle is what makes a living lab come to life.

We have started implementing this framework in our own offices to develop a portfolio of Living Labs. Therefore, our workplaces function as open innovation ecosystems where we constantly test, evaluate, and evolve to meet the needs of our employees, our clients, and our building. Our Chicago office, which moved to a new space in 2017, serves as a case study for this framework. The office was designed to foster employee collaboration, workplace satisfaction, and wellbeing. To calibrate our environment, we track environmental conditions with sensors, survey employees to assess their health and wellbeing, monitor energy use with a dashboard, and assess how we use our space with behavior mapping.

Initial findings related to health and wellbeing, energy use, and community involvement will be presented in the context of what worked, what didn't, and how we are now evolving. For instance, workplace satisfaction and energy consumption per sq. ft. have significantly improved, while behavior mapping revealed that more employees are working in the new office even with a flexible work policy. Additionally, we will share methodological learnings and findings to advance research embedded in practice.