So Frasca, in designing the new research campus for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, led an effort to deliberately maximize informal interaction along those pursuing serious science at the Hutch.
"We aren't looking to sidetrack serious people," says Frasca. "But it's important to recognize that people working in serious ideas whether in a corporate, research, or university environment are by nature isolated individuals. They enjoy interaction and recognize the benefits, but they aren't going to make an effort to casually interact.
"At Fred Hutch, the team of designers and scientists wanted to encourage the interaction that can result in some of the most formative events in a scientist's career," Frasca explains.
The research center's social focus was validated with "Lab of the Year" honors conferred by Research & Development magazine. While the judging panel lauded the facility's technical merits, special note was made of the interactive working environment.
"We are building an environment that fosters interaction of ideas," Frasca says. "Dr. Paul Nieman, director of Basic Sciences for the Center, put it well when he said, 'Science is performed in two ways, through heads-down research, and through exploration of ideas and concepts in conversation. Free-flowing communication is critical to the success of our researchers."
Frasca was first struck by the significance of interaction in the world of ideas while working a decade ago, on the Vollum Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research at the Oregon Health Sciences University.
"One evening, I was watching a television special on the scientists who won the Nobel Prize for breaking the double-helix riddle of DNA. In an interview, one of the scientists said the most important parts of the day were tea time," Frasca recalls. "The show cuts to a very simple room with bare walls and a hotplate, where twice a day they gathered over a cup of tea. The whole idea of interaction jumped out at me.
"It's like the old office-cooler syndrome, but these are highly functional people doing fundamentally important work. They are the last people you are going to find standing around the water cooler, but they are the first people you want to encourage to talk with each other," he adds.
At the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the method of creating interaction functions on multiple levels. A simple case is a corridor that becomes an impromptu meeting area when a bench seat and a view window are added. For the auditorium, where at least one presentation a day is given on an aspect of cancer research, the design is more complex.
"This was an interesting challenge, because every person in the audience thinks they know more about cancer than the presenter. Scientists come late to a presentation, and if they feel they haven't heard anything of value in the first few minutes, they're out the door.
"We know we aren't going to change their behavior in fact, we want to encourage them to come in, and to leave if they choose. Because the presentations are peer-to-peer, the area is very collegial, with side galleries and side entrances so people can come and go without disrupting a presentation," Frasca says.
The deliberate effort to engage "incidental" contact continues outside the auditorium, with an informal cafeteria and outdoor courtyard. A nearby periodicals library offers another "incidental" setting, as does an informal seating area in the adjacent atrium.
Personal time and variety within the workplace also were addressed, as illustrated by researchers' work stations situated in quiet bay-window nooks.
"People working in serious thought often live most of their lives in the workplace. Because this is the only stage in which they act out their lives, we need a workplace with several agendas, one that can create levels of experience," Frasca said.
Although social aspects of the design were important, also notable are sophisticated underpinnings that include a system to manage radioactive waste. The basic science center's environmental and energy-conservation systems were advanced enough to earn Washington State "Environmental Innovator of the Year" honors.
However, Frasca says that in any building, the social dynamic is one of the integral considerations, and that the most successful buildings are those tailored to meet specific needs.
Nancy Fishman is an associate partner with Zimmer Gunsul Frasca.
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