The Pharmaceutical industry is in a more reflective mood following the upheaval of some major mergers and legal battles in recent years. Intense competition for shareholder reorganisation led to heavy investment in human, research and real estate resources in the late 1990s. Now the emphasis is on getting the most out of these investments in delivering new products though the pipeline.

In Real Estate terms, the process of mergers involves the need to create appropriate consolidative cultures and buildings have a real role in this. The major pharmaceuticals have invested in new headquarters space to achieve this and have begun to address the issue of traditional space planning patterns of office and open plan.

They are focusing more on fostering collaborative working to support innovation and joined up working in both Corporate and R & D environments. The industry is also quietly reconsidering its approach to highly bespoke lab design as it battles with the inflexibility of its existing estate.

DEGW has been privileged to assist the industry by supporting these changes. Workplace Change Management is a very important tool where a capital-rich culture led to assumptions about workplace needs and status.

Employees need help to realise the value of working in a more collaborative way; similarly property personnel need help in engaging with the business. We have been able to help both Pfizer and AstraZeneca manage change in the last two years.

New working methods and collaborative working require new concepts for space planning and interior design that are both sensitive to local needs and aware of global issues and trends. DEGW has worked with AstraZeneca and Pfizer in the UK, Genzyme and McNeill in the US and GlaxoSmithKline in the UK, US and Italy in researching, briefing and designing working environments that better support emerging work practises.