Open plan designs: The good, the bad and the ugly; Fresenius adding 400-plus staffers
→ The open plan design has swept through biopharma like a prairie fire, dictating the layout for a whole range of new buildings and biotech offices where researchers and BD types often mix — and not always so well. The new $1 billion Francis Crick Institute in London has earned a lot of praise for its open architecture. But a number of the 1,250 people who work there are clearly not enjoying their new digs, complaining that the background noise and occasional celebratory gatherings are an unnecessary distraction. Others, though, say that it forces them to mingle, and that can be a good thing. Research group leader Nicholas Luscombe told the Guardian: “You keep bumping into people and that has created new collaborations for me.”
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