Envisioning RTP for Future Generations

A guest blog post by Bob Geolas, the new President & CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation

The Research Triangle Park in 1959

Growing up in North Carolina, I have always believed that our state was special, capable of achieving “big things” and destined to play a leading role on the global stage. It does not matter whether you were born and raised in North Carolina or moved here from somewhere else, we all seem to share this confidence in our state.

To me, this comes from our great Research Triangle Park and its history. A bold, even risky, proposition fifty years ago, North Carolina announced its intentions to build a cutting-edge research park in a scrub-pine forest in a state that ranked 49 out of 50. Despite all the challenges, it worked.

Today, RTP stands as a global brand, an innovation hot spot and economic engine for our country. Now, it is time for us to think big again for RTP and North Carolina. Throughout this year, we will begin launching a new development plan.

A vision for the Research Triangle Park of the future

This plan will embrace four principles:

• RTP should be highly collaborative – a place that brings people together in new dense, urban centers with amenities and services.
• RTP should be authentic to North Carolina -  representing modern design and quality work and living spaces.
• RTP should be inspiring - representing the excitement of the future in science, technology, arts and humanities.
• RTP should be accessible – affordable to new technology companies and those looking to grow and expand.

This will be an exciting time for our great Research Triangle Park and I am honored to represent such a special place. I hope you will join us as we begin to launch our next fifty years and the continued promise that is our destiny.

The Research Triangle Park: Plans for the Future

As most people know from past blog posts here, here, and here, the Research Triangle Foundation has been working diligently to ensure RTP is as ideal a home for innovative R&D companies in the next fifty years as it was in its first fifty years.  WRAL interviewed our new CEO, Bob Geolas, yesterday regarding our plans for the future of the Research Triangle Park.

As Bob very succinctly summarized in the video, ”RTP has played a transformational role in North Carolina. It’s going to continue to do that, and we’re excited about its future.”

We look forward to sharing more about the changes envisioned in the coming months.

A Different Lens for RTP

RTP's 7,000 acres

You know those projects that take on a life of their own once they start? Placing RTP’s Master Plan project in this category would be an understatement – but in a refreshing sort of way. For the past six months, I’ve had the privilege of serving as the project manager/quarterback/person who gets to figure out where to find the answer to various questions, etc. with Cooper, Robertson & Partners and the rest of the consulting team we contracted with to take on this historic task.  In addition to being able to work with a group of thoughtful, insightful professionals who have wholeheartedly taken on the task of helping the Foundation lay the course of success for the Park’s next 50 years, I’ve also gotten a first-hand perspective of what goes into building a 50-year strategy — and the delicate balance between identifying activities in the here and now that will make a difference while not taking any actions that would preclude the Park from being able to answer to future trends/R&D needs.

The most recent “ah-ha’ moment I encountered was while catching up on some reading for another project. In making my way through Richard Florida’s The Great Reset, I was reminded of how the founding of RTP was a spatial fix in the 1950s for the ongoing trend toward suburbia and the desire by corporations to conduct their R&D in isolated campuses. Fast forward 50+ years to an R&D environment where much has changed, but much has also stayed the same. One could argue that the work being undertaken for the new Master Plan is setting the stage for another fix – one that takes the positive benefits of concentrating a critical mass of cutting edge companies, researchers and technical experts and gives them spaces and connections to ensure their innovations continue to flourish. In this new “fix,” there will be greater emphasis on supporting incubation and entrepreneurship to grow the Park’s future tenant base and on providing amenities and other uses within our boundaries that will keep them and our existing companies in RTP. And doing so in a way that preserves the parts of the Park model that continue to make sense and make it a unique place.

Couple this line of thinking with work the Foundation did with the Institute for the Future when we posited in a white paper entitled “Future Knowledge Ecosystems” that going forward, research parks and innovation places will be important not only for who discovers and innovates within their boundaries but also for the connections they have with their immediate region and peers around the globe. In the new global norm where companies search for the best locations to host high-value, specialized and innovation-related activities and where they invest in regions to gain access to highly-trained labor pools, R&D and commercialization capacity, innovation networks and unique business infrastructure, RTP and places like it will be in a very competitive position.

How will all of this great thinking and precedence be used in the final Master Plan? At this point, it’s hard to tell. We’ll likely see different sorts of uses in the Park while amplifying some of the things that make us so special. We’ll likely see RTP playing up its “green-ness” and leveraging the technological advances developed in many of our Park companies to create a more sustainable and “smart” environment for R&D activities. Suffice it to say that it’s been an interesting journey thus far and a great lesson in ensuring that delicate balance of near-term needs and future aspirations.

Giant Interactive Group HQ Shanghai, China - a precedence for marrying building form and nature?

More Density, More Nature

Tian Jin Eco-City, China

More density, more nature.  To most, that would seem like a bit of a paradox.  For RTP, that is one of our future goals.

We recognize that one of the most treasured assets of the Park is the unique, natural environment.  By better utilizing the green space we have and increasing density, RTP will be able to foster increased community, energy, and dynamic collaboration in RTP.  And, in short, create an environment where people are inspired to live, work, play, and learn.

Grimshaw Architects is one of the firms helping to conceive the Master Plan.  The team members from Grimshaw are instrumental in helping RTP address the challenges of blending buildings and facilities together with the natural environment to create unique and physically beautiful spaces and places where collaboration and community can take place. 

Hong Kong Science Park

Maybe it is because I dream of being an architect in my next life, or that I am enamored with all aspects of art history, but when the Grimshaw representatives present their findings in our meetings, I am immediately captivated.  The marvel of these images is that the developments include a high level of density, while simultaneously showcasing a clear reverence for nature.  We’re not sure what this mix of density and nature will look in RTP, but we have lots of best practices and models to draw from as the illustrations demonstrate.

Sonoma Mountain Village

We are currently wrapping up the findings process and are both excited and anxious to begin the plan development phase.  The development phase is a four month process in which the consultants will begin to build a design scheme, develop cost estimates, and create business models for implementation. The direction that the consultants are moving towards as we enter this next phase is to redefine the Park’s relationship to the landscape and ecology, determine how to intensify through increased density, and how to create more clusters to better utilize our land.

As we examine the viability of a community nexus in RTP, one of the considerations will be the types of amenities that will be included in the center.  What amenities would you like in the Park? An ampitheater? A town center? A coffee house? A microbrewery? A charter school?  We’d love to hear from you!

Discovering the Next Generation of RTP

7,000 acres. 1,400 football fields. Manhattan. RTP.

What do all of those things have in common?  It’s the size of RTP’s land mass.  To put it in a local perspective, imagine the distance from South Saunders to North Hills in Raleigh or from I-85 north of Durham to I-40 and Southpoint Mall. That’s a pretty substantial distance!

In our last planning session, the consultants painted a mental picture for us by comparing RTP to Raleigh, Durham, and Manhattan.  When you visualize the density of Manhattan juxtaposed against the green space of the Park, you quickly realize that there is a significant opportunity within the Park.   We are cognizant of the fact that RTP will never be Manhattan, but the Park has a substantial amount of land whose use should be re-thought to be utilized to its fullest potential.  The end result of the Master Plan will be to recommend the creation of unique and compelling land use opportunities that are complementary to our region and urban partners.

The timeline for the Master Plan is scheduled to last 12 months, which is divided into three phases: discovery, plan development, and creation of the Master Plan.  We are currently in the discovery phase (and sticking to the timeline so far!) and have gained fascinating insight about the Park based on the physical, economic, and market analysis that has been conducted thus far.  You’re probably asking yourself, so what exactly does that mean? In a nutshell, it means we are in the process of having lots and lots of meetings.   We’ve had meetings on everything ranging from transit challenges to watersheds that run through the Park.  Because of the true scope of the Park and the project we are undertaking, our team and the consultants are working not only with the Master Plan Task Force and RTP Board, but also current and former owners & tenants, a group of regional municipal planners through the CORE Group (Center of the Region Enterprise), local university leaders, and representatives from Durham and Wake Counties, among others.

As the discovery phase comes to a close, we are looking forward to learning about the findings at a work planning session with our Board and Task force in early December.

As we go through this process, we want your feedback as well.  So please tell us, what would you do with 7,000 acres?

RTP Master Plan

The possibilities are endless. Transform. Revitalize. Modernize. A “great reset.” A new urban form. A community where you’re inspired to live, learn, work and play. Buildings fully integrated into the landscape. Spaces for innovation. Sustainable infrastructure. Ecotopia.

As many of those in our community are aware, The Research Triangle Park (RTP) is currently undergoing a Master Plan. The original Master Plan for RTP was created in 1959, and this will be the first comprehensive update of that plan. Since 1959, demographics and the business climate have changed dramatically, forcing companies to evolve and adapt their business models to stay competitive. As such, RTP recognized the need for our business model to evolve to maintain our competitive edge. The goal of the Master Plan is to continue to position RTP as a global brand and a hot spot for innovation and discovery for the next 50 years to come.

A quick introduction. My name is Liz Hardin and I am the Project Coordinator for the Master Plan. I graduated from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business in May with my MBA. I am new to the Triangle region and also new to the world of urban planning, so my posts will include interesting facts and tidbits of knowledge that I gain throughout the process in layman’s terms.

Fall at RTP Headquarters

RTP is truly a unique place to work. I love living in a region where all four seasons exist. Every morning as I drive into work, my spirits are immediately lifted as I see the bright orange leaves of the maple trees that line our driveway. It is extremely rare to work in an office where you can look out of your window and see trees and wildlife. What will the end result of the Master Plan be? We don’t know. We’re going through this process with an open mind, but we absolutely plan to preserve the parts of the Park that make it one of a kind.

This will be a reoccurring post with the purpose of keeping our constituents and anyone else reading in the loop as we move through the planning phases of the project. We’re excited to share this process with you and hope you will provide us with your thoughts and feedback as we move forward.

Stay tuned!

RTP Announces a Master Plan Project

The Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina, owner and developer of The Research Triangle Park (RTP), announced today that the organization will undertake a comprehensive Master Plan for RTP. The 12-month Master Plan project will consider changes needed within the Park’s boundaries to ensure RTP remains a pre-eminent and globally competitive location for research and development operations and a leading global center of innovation. Anticipated components of the RTP Master Plan project include land use, financial planning, transportation/transit, economic clusters, market demand, and other infrastructure and zoning recommendations. Equally important, the RTP Master Plan project will look for ways to transform the Park and ensure it continues to serve as a key driver for the region’s and State’s economy.

The RTP Master Plan effort will be led by Cooper, Robertson & Partners, an architecture and urban design firm based in New York City, New York. To undertake the RTP Master Plan, Cooper, Robertson & Partners has assembled an extraordinary team with expertise in the fundamental requirements of the project. Principle team members include, HR&A Advisors, CresaPartners, Faithful+Gould, Grimshaw, Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Natural Systems Utilities, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Buro Happold, and HDR. Each brings a global perspective balanced with a deep understanding of the local context and opportunities. Each will provide analytical rigor, thoughtfulness, and creativity, ingredients that are essential to craft a visionary Master Plan of this magnitude.

“The Cooper, Robertson & Partners team brings together exceptional designers and planners who deeply understand the characteristics needed for RTP’s continued success,” said Rick Weddle, President and CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation. “Cooper Robertson will bring inspiration, creative design, and an astute awareness of the changes needed within the Park boundaries, in addition to a sensitivity around the Park’s characteristics that should be nurtured and maintained.”

A Task Force, comprised of Foundation Board members and chaired by Richard Daugherty, oversaw the strategic direction of the Master Plan consultant search process and will continue to set the overall direction of the project. The Task Force charged staff with finding a world-class team to take on the RTP Master Plan task. The consultant search process began with the release of a Request for Information on April 2010 to 14 planning, architecture, and landscape design firms, recognized as being the top in their fields and with proven expertise in projects of this scope and magnitude. A full Request for Proposals was then released in May 2010 to a short-list of four lead teams/firms deemed to be the best qualified and most competitive.

“While RTP has successfully addressed its mission over the past 50 years to create high-quality jobs and opportunities in North Carolina, the original development plan for the Park has not been updated since the 1960s,” said Richard Daugherty, Task Force Chairman. “Considering how drastically the environment in which research parks and innovative economies operate has transformed over the past few years, the Foundation is taking this opportunity to re-envision the Master Plan for the Park to ensure we remain a place known globally as a hot spot for innovation and a key component of the region’s and State’s economic success and competitive position.”

Work on the Master Plan project will begin immediately and will engage a broad spectrum of RTP’s stakeholders, including the RTP Owners & Tenants Association, Durham and Wake Counties, the Triangle J CORE group and other surrounding municipalities, and the three research universities upon whose strength the Park was founded and among whom the Park continues to thrive. The project is expected to last 12 months.