The STA Living Lab

The Contract Forum is an annual conference bringing together design industry leaders from across the country for in-depth discussions and knowledge sharing. At the last Contract Magazine Forum, I was honored to be asked to participate in a series of presentations entitled “What if…” The goal was to explore ways in which designers are using our talents and position to effect social good, and make a positive impact on the community. I was joined by three incredible designers – Verda Alexander of Studio O+A, Jane Hallinan of Perkins Eastman, and Irwin Miller of Gensler. Contract’s Editor in Chief, Paul Makovsky posed the question, “What if…” to each of us. My colleagues spoke about equity in the design professions, pro bono design, and bringing design to communities through a mobile design “food” truck!

My “What if” was “What if one hour a week could transform a team’s culture?” My topic was the STA Living Lab, a signature part of the STA culture. The Living Lab is a weekly, one-hour knowledge share amongst our team. Every Friday at 4:30, it is pencils down (or mice down as the case may be), and we gather as a group to close out the week together, learn something from one another, and have some fun! The lab can be a discussion, an activity, a field trip, or a presentation, and is led by one of the team members on a rotating basis. The topic can be just about anything, as everything is related to design. The idea is to think more broadly about design and our impact.

The Living Lab was developed in 2012, when STA and MapLab merged into the new STA. As part of the transition, we took a step back and thought about what really defined our studio – the core mission centered around research as an integral component of great design. Research can take many forms, from academic research to evidence based results, but the critical part of research is knowledge sharing. The lab would be an opportunity for us to share our knowledge in a very direct way, while also building our team connections.

The name “Living Lab” is a blend of the concepts of “Living Room” and “Research Lab”, reflecting the idea that knowledge and research can be shared in a comfortable casual exchange. Our labs have expanded beyond discussions, to guest speakers, student tours, field trips, and pro bono activities. Activities and topics have ranged greatly, including the design of guitars, WELL and wellness, composting, virtual reality, places that inspire us, hat making, drum making, project charrettes. We’ve toured our completed projects and projects in construction as a team, and we’ve gathered to test our crafting abilities on numerous charity projects! We’ve also used the time to launch important pro-bono initiatives, including our work for Bodega Makeover.

While the Living Lab is primarily for internal sharing, our Gazette is the STA blog, where we share our ongoing research with the external community. Weekly blog posts by our team explore personal interests, exciting experiences and thoughtful research. Both the Living Lab and the Gazette posts also give our team an opportunity to share their voice, and to comfortably expand their presentation and writing techniques.

I was happy to share our Living Lab story at the Contract Forum, and from the discussion that followed I learned that our model is quite unique. While it is not uncommon to have an end of week gathering amongst teams, our focused discussion model was seen by many as an inspiring way to share knowledge and build teams. At STA we treasure the opportunities to learn and share, building not only our personal growth, but also our growth as a team, and our connection to our community.