MSR’s research and development initiative known as Holistic Assessment Protocol (HAP) establishes an approach to pre- and post- project analysis to better understand outcomes and to inform future design success. A multidisciplinary team of architects, interior designers, sustainability experts, and outside research consultants has come together to compile reference benchmarks and standards during Phase I and to refine proposed categories of inquiry relative to the firm’s strategic goal (to be the leading design firm that achieves inspiring generative impacts across the board on every project by 2026).

Focusing on beauty, performance, and human impact, the team’s data collection and observations encompass community, site, building, room, element, and body scales. During Phase II, the team will prepare recommendations for an office-wide baseline template, including metrics, data collection and analysis templates, and occupant survey questions. These recommendations will be tested on current MSR projects and used to establish add-on metrics for typology, scale, and other unique attributes.