Rickes Associates was engaged to provide support to Wellesley College in preparation for renovations to the Science Center. New academic programs, in conjunction with anticipated faculty growth, were driving forces behind the need for additional office and instructional space. In addition, several classrooms were undesirable because of their challenging configuration or physical location.

A specific budget was allocated for updates to laboratories, classrooms, and offices as part of a larger infrastructure project for the building. RA participated in interviews with members of the individual academic departments to identify new programs, anticipated space needs, and issues with current space. A classroom demand analysis was conducted to determine the distribution of existing classrooms as compared to course enrollment, hours of use, and seat occupancy rates.

A cumulative list of wants and needs was developed, which included reconfigured classrooms, new seminar rooms and offices, and a number of department-specific spaces. The requests were then prioritized, and several options were presented in an effort to accommodate as many requests as possible. A final step of establishing a budget for each scenario and determining which spaces will be renovated was undertaken. (2007) .