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Communing With Nature

One pharmaceutical giant gains big benefits from its gracious pastoral setting.

By Heidi Schwartz

Top executives around the world support the idea of encouraging communication and efficiency through the strategic use of resources. Those who embrace this theory believe that scattered assets-people, real estate, and other essential factors-actually impede the progress of the organization, and they will do anything in their power to bring everyone and everything together.

[For more on the subject of teaming, see "Innovation In The Office" by Brian Kraemer in this issue.]

Until June 2001, this was the scenario for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a global leader in the world of pharmaceuticals. Approximately 5,000 management, administrative, research and development, and support employees were situated in 10 buildings strewn throughout the Radnor, PA vicinity.

James R. Hildreth, vice president, administration for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals recalls, "We had some substantial issues. We were in 10 buildings in seven locations, and it was a burden to the organization and to our executives who had to drive to go to different meetings. Good communications and interactions came at a cost, and management wanted to resolve that issue. The Radnor campus simply did not allow for significant renovation and change, so Ken Martin, Wyeth's CFO at the time, activated the process of identifying potential options for an integration situation."

Variations On A Theme

When Aventis Pharmaceuticals moved its headquarters to Bridgewater, NJ, Wyeth seized the opportunity to purchase its competitor's unoccupied Collegeville, PA facility. Hildreth explains, "This situation was somewhat serendipitous, because Aventis built the original facility." After Aventis merged with another company and decided to sell the campus, "our real estate and financial people jumped at the opportunity," he adds.

Aside from the convenience of a shared business sector, the Collegeville site offered a setting that was truly spectacular. While the original building was extremely practical, it didn't take advantage of its beautiful natural setting 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia County, PA.

Project Designer Adam Glaser of Kling, the Philadelphia, PA-based architectural, design, and engineering firm in charge of the Wyeth Collegevile project, remembers, "While it was an interesting building, it was very internalized." Kling's Mary Beth Di Figlia, AIA, principal and project director, adds, "It didn't give people much access to daylight, and it didn't have many work areas focused outward."

The site was challenging to work with, but a successful effort was made to tame its numerous small hills and valleys. Hildreth observes, "There were some outstanding natural landscape features. It would have been tragic to adulterate those in any way."

The Overture

Because of its large size, the Collegeville project was approached in two separate stages. The first phase was kicked off in December 2000 following the close of sale. Hildreth says, "We performed some fairly major renovations of the 1.1 million square feet of existing space and upgraded 120 labs in the two wings already here."

Constructed in the 1980s, the original building was extremely research intensive. According to Glaser, this translated into "a lot of space with only a small administrative component-which didn't provide room for many additional people." Updates to administrative areas and laboratories, cosmetic changes, and a significant upgrade of the information technology infrastructure followed. "In fact, we ripped out and replaced over 500 miles of telephone and computer cable," says Hildreth.

Wyeth researchers previously conducted their work in labs built in the 1950s. The old areas had been renovated a few times, but it was not a cutting edge environment. The renovated Phase I space would feature "state-of-the-art laboratory facilities with access to natural light for almost everyone, something that's very unusual," says Hildreth.

A Sobering Interlude

Shortly after the completion of Phase I (June 2001), the groundbreaking ceremony for the Phase II site preparation took place (August 2001). Things were moving along at an excellent pace until the tragic events of 9/11 changed everything. Glaser says, "That was such a volatile time. At first, everyone wanted to hunker down. Naturally, we had to go back and review our security plans."

Hildreth notes, "There's always a discussion around security related to a pharmaceutical campus. We have a fairly extensive security program in place for all of our facilities."

There were a few specifics at Collegeville that needed modification, however. Di Figlia says, "Since top senior Wyeth executives would occupy the site, we had to make their floor secure but accessible 24/7. They had to operate the company if the power went out or something else happened."

Glaser compares the building to a hospital. "This facility needed redundancies and back up. It must have emergency power and extra capacity to keep all essential systems online," he explains.

While the rural setting had its aesthetic benefits, it gave the impression of being fairly exposed. "We added perimeter security," says Di Figlia, "but we couldn't entirely fence in a 360 acre site." Glaser adds, "We were worried that if the building had to become more secure, our open, transparent design wouldn't make much sense. We did some very subtle things to heighten the perimeter, and in the end, we found the proper balance between security and openness in the facility."

The Second Movement

In addition to providing employees with a cohesive environment that was secure and beautiful, Wyeth wanted to create a "new front door" for the company with the Phase II portion of the project. The objective, which came directly from the company's steering committee, was to convey the message that Wyeth is one of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world. That message had to be immediate, tasteful, and clear.

The Phase II atrium (which connects with Phase I and houses the main entrance and reception area) was designed to convey that message. "We benefited from the fact that the company's President Bernard Poussot had a close relative who is an architect," explains Di Figlia. "He understood that architecture could convey meaning-not only a sense of style but a sense of direction for a company. He used some very key words that we translated into architecture, one of which was 'transparency.' He wanted this organization to be very transparent to the world in everything it did."

Glaser recalls what it was like to present his ideas for the atrium. "When you have a building that's almost a half a mile long and nearly 650' from the road, it's difficult to create a single, compelling entry point bold enough to be noticed from the road. That's why we decided to create the glazed atrium-one gigantic, glass room that everybody on campus could share. When I pulled out the first drawing in the boardroom, everybody looked surprised but no one asked me to take it out. As the project moved forward, people would ask if the atrium was still included in the job.

"Although we were never asked to remove it, we went through an exercise to see how much the atrium cost. It actually ended up being less than if they had filled in the space with floors. Then we built this beautiful wooden model. When everybody saw it, they realized it was something special. In the end, we were able to create a really interesting space, and now people can't imagine the building without it."

With that atrium, Hildreth notes, "our lobby says, 'We are one of the best, and we're proud of what we do.'" Behind the reception desk, a huge satellite photograph of the globe reinforces the company's international message. "It's a very prominent architectural feature. Automatically, visitors know they're in the headquarters of a global pharmaceutical company," he adds.

Another obvious goal of the new, cohesive building was to create a single space that brought people from all departments together. In order to accomplish this, it was necessary to change the ratio of private offices to open workstations. "We moved quite a number of people out of offices and into open workspaces. That has been a challenge, because it's a cultural, behavioral change," says Hildreth.

Glaser recalls the chaotic state of Wyeth's former offices. "All of those facilities had very different standards. In one building, every executive office was different. It was intriguing and kind of quaint, but it wouldn't work on the new campus. Collegeville spaces were broken down into two different types: enclosed offices and a larger, open office environment."

Partially due to the success of public spaces like the atrium, people eventually responded in a positive way. "If you made the public realm really attractive and exciting, people would want to be in it," says Glaser. "A cubicle can provide a nice place to work, but we find that many people are away from their desks much of the time working on team projects in conference rooms and atriums. For some people, it's more productive to be in this environment working with colleagues than it is to go off and work by themselves."

Hildreth feels the overall space supports much more collaboration now, particularly in the food service areas. "You see finance people, business development people, marketing people, and other commercial types in the research commons dining area, and you see folks from all aspects of the labs in the campus commons dining area. There's a lot of crossover."

The Grand Finale

Collegeville's Phase I was completed in June 2001. Approximately 2,500 employees from various Radnor locations began populating the renovated labs in late April and completed their moves in September of that year.
Once word about the new facility got out, anticipation started to build. "We were beginning to come under one roof, and that created excitement. Interaction was starting to happen, and collaboration through the informal mechanisms we put in place was starting to catch on," says Hildreth.

One of the most popular topics of discussion was "the question of where each person would be in the new building," says Hildreth. "That was followed by, 'when am I moving?'" There was some concern over the distance to Collegeville, even though it was only 15 miles north of the Radnor campus. For some, it was going to become a much more significant commute.

A number of mechanisms were put in place to help employees make the transition. One such program, Wyeth's Commuter Assistance Center, was even recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as an award winner.

"We coordinated with our human resources task force, which was set up by a superb team leader, Randy Miller. That group worked with the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association to determine how the commute would change for our workforce," Hildreth explains. (He adds, "Some people say, 'the commute is tough, traffic is heavy, it's taking me more time, I'm spending more on gas, but when I get here, I love it.'")

The design/build/move sequence accelerated dramatically with the Phase II portion of the project. Ground was broken in May 2001, and due to leasing obligations, all personnel had to be in the new building by the end of 2003. "Radnor properties had been sold. The lease expired at the end of the year. We needed time to decommission the buildings and turn them over to the new owner," Hildreth says.

As soon as the design team made decisions, they were converted into drawings and schematics to be put in place in the field. In May 2003, more than 2,000 staff members started moving into Phase II; that culminated in October 2003 with the facility's grand opening ceremonies. "We were typically moving about 200 people a week, once we got rolling," Hildreth recalls. "We only broke the move sequence for holidays. By keeping on that pace with the move, we came in on target; actually we were ahead of schedule."

Now fully occupied, Collegeville has successfully achieved the complex goals set forth by the steering committee in the original planning stages. Hildreth recalls a dinner held during the second phase of the moves. "If there is anybody who has summed it up better, it truly is our president of pharmaceuticals, Bernard Poussot, who said to me, 'When I come into the building in the morning, I really feel as if I'm part of a global top 10 pharmaceuticals company.' That says it all. If a building can instill that in a senior executive, it instills it in the people who work here. They know they work for a major player in our industry, and that encourages them to achieve greater things."

 

This article was based on interviews with Di Figlia (mdifiglia@kling.us), Glaser (aglaser@kling.us), and Hildreth (hildrethj@wyeth.com).

To share your renovation story, send an e-mail to schwartz@groupc.com. For past Showcase features, see Showcase at www.TodaysFacilityManager.com.