Anyone have any thoughts on the design of business parks both in terms of teh fabric of the buildings (Homo or Heterogeniety?) and the use of sustainable technologies both in buildings and in the park itself?
Examples illustrating these would be helpful!
the business park is not a sustainable model. period.
residue of suburban mentality.
i work in one. sea of parking. have to drive to get lunch. horrible traffic if you leave between 4-6pm, just to get on the highway which is less than 1 mile from my bldg's lot.
singularity of use is a primary obstacle to overcome. the only "residential" in this immediate area is in the form of a couple of hotels for business travelers. All food is on the other side of aforementioned highway.
Greenfield developments such as the typical business park (at least in Florida) can probably be improved, but that's just trying to "pretty up a pig with lipstick."
there's no point in making it sustainable. if one were to do so, one is ignoring the larger problem concerning the business park, and that is, of sprawl. I wouldn't bother with such a subject, and virtually impossible to get them rezoned. That's like getting the employees at the permitting office to smile.
however, there's probably one thing to make them more sustainable.. and that is to stop fertilizing and cutting the acres and acres of grass... not a soul lays on them!
I wrote my urban planning master's thesis on biotechnology parks and technopoles ... my investigation of the issue was far from design-related, although I did find a lot of good studies that showed that business/technology parks are not only sprawl-inducing, but will most likely create a huge service-oriented sector.
Check out Annalee Saxenian's Regional Advantage (about the development of Silicon Valley and Route 128), as well as Manuel Castell's/Peter Hall's Technopoles of the World. I always found J.G. Ballard's Super-Cannes to be a helpful and critical assessment of technology parks in general (it's a work of fiction).
Just a quick note to say thanks to all who have contributed thus far to this thread - tis much appreciated. FYI I am currently writing an article and cost model on business parks in the UK which is due for publication next friday and hence this thread.
I find this discussion forum on Archinect to be an excellent way of canvassing views from around the world.
I particularly am appreciative of our american colleagues and the insigths they provide as they are suffering more than most from issues we in Europe have either legislated against happening or we have no idea it might occur here.
I will post a link to my article on this thread once the article is finished.
Business Parks - thoughts on trends in the next 15 years?
Anyone have any thoughts on the design of business parks both in terms of teh fabric of the buildings (Homo or Heterogeniety?) and the use of sustainable technologies both in buildings and in the park itself?
Examples illustrating these would be helpful!
the business park is not a sustainable model. period.
residue of suburban mentality.
i work in one. sea of parking. have to drive to get lunch. horrible traffic if you leave between 4-6pm, just to get on the highway which is less than 1 mile from my bldg's lot.
singularity of use is a primary obstacle to overcome. the only "residential" in this immediate area is in the form of a couple of hotels for business travelers. All food is on the other side of aforementioned highway.
Greenfield developments such as the typical business park (at least in Florida) can probably be improved, but that's just trying to "pretty up a pig with lipstick."
(sorry, sore subject. I will try to add more clarity later on when I have a minute - great topic, though.)
there's no point in making it sustainable. if one were to do so, one is ignoring the larger problem concerning the business park, and that is, of sprawl. I wouldn't bother with such a subject, and virtually impossible to get them rezoned. That's like getting the employees at the permitting office to smile.
however, there's probably one thing to make them more sustainable.. and that is to stop fertilizing and cutting the acres and acres of grass... not a soul lays on them!
One of William McDonough's largest market sectors contains corporate office buildings. See Nike, The Johnson Company, Ford.
I wrote my urban planning master's thesis on biotechnology parks and technopoles ... my investigation of the issue was far from design-related, although I did find a lot of good studies that showed that business/technology parks are not only sprawl-inducing, but will most likely create a huge service-oriented sector.
Check out Annalee Saxenian's Regional Advantage (about the development of Silicon Valley and Route 128), as well as Manuel Castell's/Peter Hall's Technopoles of the World. I always found J.G. Ballard's Super-Cannes to be a helpful and critical assessment of technology parks in general (it's a work of fiction).
just separate the two
business
park
that's it. No more business parks, just business and parks
The San Fransisco Chronicle has an article about the future of business parks.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/27/HOGP1J16S31.DTL
Don't really agree with it but interesting nonetheless.
Just a quick note to say thanks to all who have contributed thus far to this thread - tis much appreciated. FYI I am currently writing an article and cost model on business parks in the UK which is due for publication next friday and hence this thread.
I find this discussion forum on Archinect to be an excellent way of canvassing views from around the world.
I particularly am appreciative of our american colleagues and the insigths they provide as they are suffering more than most from issues we in Europe have either legislated against happening or we have no idea it might occur here.
I will post a link to my article on this thread once the article is finished.
Thin,
bumping your thread, fancy a beer on Thursday?
Psy.
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