Over the past decade universities have intensified collaboration. In some cases, natural consortia have sprung up due to shared history or geographical proximity, while other institutions have been prompted to explore unexpected partnerships.

As a result, higher education institutions increasingly incorporate multidisciplinary spaces that foster interaction among students, researchers, and professionals. This shift recognises that innovation often thrives at the intersection of diverse fields.

The University of Strathclyde wholeheartedly embraced this ethos with the construction of its new Learning and Teaching Building. The variety of spaces within reflects the evolving needs of pedagogy. The university sought to enrich the student experience by creating a central, non-departmental hub for socialising, learning, and teaching. The result is a diverse array of learning and social spaces within a four-story galleria, ranging from informal areas for group and individual study to formal teaching spaces, including a 400-seat theatre. The rehoused Student Union and Student Engagement and Enhancement services have transitioned from the campus periphery to an integral part of student life.

A series of diverse learning and social spaces at the Learning and Teaching Building, University of Strathclyde

In Manchester, the mammoth Manchester Engineering Campus Development brings together a community of 8,000 students, researchers, academics and professional services staff providing world-class sustainable research facilities alongside innovative, flexible teaching and learning spaces. A dedicated maker space on the ground floor hosts dynamic workshops for students and academics to share ideas and innovate, and doubles as an event space where students display their learning to the main ‘street’ open to all. This 180 metre active learning street connecting with workshops and labs, visually links learning and practical spaces and is filled with the buzz of hundreds of students working together or socialising.

We are collaborating with numerous life science companies to introduce similar spaces to those in higher education institutions like Strathclyde and Manchester. These spaces, or what we term ‘knowledge cauldrons’, encourage spontaneous meetings, effectively reviving the concept of water cooler moments, but within science and technology buildings instead of traditional offices. The recently completed ONE BioHub speculative science hub on Aberdeen's Foresterhill Health Campus incorporates these areas, with wide corridors, open atria, and double-height spaces offering better sightlines and acoustics for informal, chance encounters that foster the exchange of knowledge and information.

ONE BioHub in Aberdeen strategically locates collaboration zones, cross-fertilising best practice from the higher education sector

Strategically positioned collaboration zones including lounges, alcoves, and nooks encourage serendipitous meetings beyond regular work hours. Innovative laboratory environments promote secure yet efficient hands-on learning, accommodating scientific groups of varying sizes. The reconfigurable nature of the designs allows companies to adapt and flex, rearranging furniture and forming diverse workgroups, including other organisations using the same facilities or who are in close proximity. Glass partitions exhibit science and engineering, promoting community and cohesion. These spaces are agile, flexible, and accessible, as they should be. They not only fortify organisations but also encourage the local community to use them, supporting outreach, social value, and networking.

Fundamentally, this combination of social, research, and education spaces has become the norm for the next generation of scientists. They used them when studying and have come to expect access to them in the working world. As a result, many science and technology companies recognise the benefits of such environments to support innovation, discovery, and social value; winning and keeping the best new talent.