What it takes to make a technology science office park (campus) work

For over a decade technology science parks have bespeckled the Asian landscape offering campus style advantages to start ups and multinationals alike. But as the industry comes of age, each location is finding that it takes more than a plot of land and a bright idea to make these locations work.

Once upon a time a newly opening tech park was flavour of the month — government endorsed them and companies would flock to the doors. Nowadays the market is maturing. Occupants have a better sense of what they want to achieve from setting up in the park while developers can be more specific with their offerings. What is considered important varies from location to location but we have interviewed several of the top parks around the region and have found that requirements and concerns vary greatly. Basic services as described by Patrick Teh, Manager at the first of Malaysia’s high-tech industrial parks Kulim Hi-Tech Park include “High quality water, power, workers, telecommunications and road”. Other advantages of the location include “Mature industrial support services; peaceful and stable political environment and transparent business transactions”. But are these things still sufficient, and are companies now expecting more?

It’s people not space

Spokesperson Dr. Janekrishna Kanatharana, Director, Thailand Science Park, the first of its kind in Thailand set up in 2002, says that tenant requirements come in three categories: Larger companies come to the park wanting people, medium sized companies want equipment while start-ups, he laughs, “come with a shopping list”. Access to human resources has been a common reason for park site selection from when the first parks were being mooted. A steady pool of graduates nearby was part of the reason the TSP is sited near two top universities. But subsequent to that it has been the interaction between the institutions that has progressed.

Dr. Kanatharana oversees the running of the park and recruitment of new tenants and came to the park one year after it opened. He says that in the beginning the park was about catering to tenant’s basic needs. Then the delivery progressed to improving the physical landscape of the part. Once these aspects had been advanced the park owners realised that there was a softer side of service delivery that would serve tenants needs. They started to work on aspects that he calls “quality of life and convenience”. And this involves improving opportunities for business and social interaction for all tenants and their employees.

He points out that it is important to be creative and look at what the employees really want, and that is also not the same as 10 years ago. He notes that generational changes have taken place in that time — baby boomers and Generation X, he says, have a different way of working they are happy to meet in a meeting room and or participate in traditional lectures. Generation Y on the other hand uses the web more to socialise and he sees that it is the park’s job to engage people in the ways that they are most comfortable with.

The science park is a research and development (R&D) community and Dr. Kanatharana has noticed that companies are able to create results faster if they know about each other’s work. This is why creating communities is key to the success of the park. Methods used vary. Annual sports days are a great chance to get to know each other in a non-business environment and rather than being purely competitive it is used as a chance to interact, for example if the Asian Institute of Technology needs an extra volley-ball player for their team then the TSP will offer one from their squad. Another way of getting to know each other is through learning and inspiration, such as at the tea talks to which the park invites luminaries such as Nobel laureates to present before a meal or drinks.

Equipment

While access to the right people might be the number one concern for many companies there are still demands made of the facilities themselves. Dr. Kanatharana says that their scientific testing and other facilities are one of the key reasons that companies would choose the park over regular office space. Rather than just offering space, TSP allows customisation of the buildings, permitting anything that does not alter the structure or pose a health and safety risk.

Flexibility is another demand that was not always guaranteed in the past. In its India parks, RMZ offer a variety of type of spaces from shell spaces to warm shell spaces to furnished ready to move into office spaces, temporary incubation centres as well as Design Build Campus Options. “Our Parks are aesthetic and appeal to the daily tenant workforce and are functionally efficient. We have highly efficient and flexible floor plates, spacious grids, up to date modern base building equipments and technology, excellent Car Parking Ratios and large open landscaped areas.”

In the two parks run by Wadhwa in Mumbai and Pune built to suit and customisable units are also important selling points. Ashish Shah, Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, The Wadhwa Group says that government incentives, which have been traditionally enticed businesses to science and technology parks, are expansive and increasingly creative. In many cases they are based around a real estate play. For example once the government has designated a certain region as an IT incentive zone, developers bid on it and start to develop the park. Government then plays and important role by supplying the zone with requisite electricity and other services. One incentive he points out first is the ability to build sometimes double the GFA than would be available outside the incentivised area. He also notes that many companies that go for the built to suit model will provide their own canteens, recreation areas and other facilities exclusively for their own staff.

Clustering

Regardless of the equipment and hard services, location and the cluster effect noted by Dr. Kanatharana for the TSP has grown to be one of the most cherished advantages of a science park. Shah describes Wadhwa’s 1 mil sqf park opposite a main train station as at the gateway to middle income Mumbai and their Pune location in Hinjewadi as similarly tapping into the mid and lower middle income groups residential locations.

As one of the bigger players in the Indian business park market offering over 13 mil sqf RMZ agree that the nascent journey of a successful project begins with identifying the ideal location for an ideal sized tech/business park, considering a viable location with easy accessibility, developed infrastructure and close proximity to residential areas, government friendly environment offering incentives to companies and developers, adequate Floor Square Index, creating adequate recreational and food court spaces within our large business parks.

Companies large and small are also now more concerned with the quality of business park offerings — things such as fire safety standards that are on par with international (rather than sometimes less stringent local) standards are an example of this, says Shah. Competitive parks have to comply with requirements of their multi-national tenants and offer them with consistent service.

With growth of the software market slowing Shah says investors and corporates are acting with more caution. So it will be only those parks that are able to move to the next generation of offerings of both physical and human infrastructure that will be able to keep up.