The University of Manitoba and Asper School of Business wanted to improve their support for behavioral research across the functional areas of management. They selected the ground floor of the Drake Centre for transformation into the David Dreman Behavioural Management Research Lab.
Working closely with faculty researchers and the dean of the Asper School of Business, our team delivered a custom layout featuring acoustically separated labs, observation and debrief rooms, and integrated audiovisual systems. The renovation included transforming the areas previously dedicated to a cafeteria, kitchen, and office, as well as part of a corridor, into necessary lab and support spaces.
We designed the highly technical lab to facilitate research on wide-spanning behavioral issues within areas such as consumer behavior, business administration, finance, management information systems, supply chain management, and actuarial science. All labs and debrief rooms are equipped with cameras, speakers, and microphones, and are acoustically separated. Research participants enter the lab through a waiting room followed by one of two debrief rooms, and into a single double loaded corridor with the labs on the right and breakout rooms to the left. Subjects exit at the opposite end of the corridor.
The overall space also consists of a control room that serves as the audiovisual control center, flex room for simulating retail and office spaces, and lab manager office that also hosts the server system. Our intentionally neutral design features black thresholds marking the transition from the common corridor into specialty lab spaces or debrief rooms, incorporating clear signage to improve wayfinding. This permits a discreet, unobtrusive environment for the study and engineering of human behavior.
The result is a controlled, flexible setting that supports the faculty’s ability to hire and retain talented faculty and graduate students as well as enriches behavioral management education and training. It also aids Asper faculty and graduate students in elevating the quality and quantity of their research for publication in highly regarded peer-reviewed journals and other outlets.
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