The Environmental Design (ENVD) building is an eerily quiet place in the summer. With barren studios, empty hallways, and dormant 3D printers, the student and faculty spaces in the building often resemble a ghost town. Unlike a ghost town, however, the old worktables and rickety studio stools haven鈥檛 been left behind to gather dust and rust. Rather, this ghost town underwent a redesign.聽
Over the summer, a hard-working group of faculty, staff and students spent months updating studio spaces in both the basement and eastern wing of the third floor. After collaborating on studio update projects last summer, Marcel de Lange, teaching professor, and Jared Arp, teaching assistant professor, hoped to continue the momentum this year by tackling adjacent studio spaces in dire need of updates. 聽
鈥淲hy in the 21st century are incoming students sitting on a barstool on some kind of drafting desk that doesn鈥檛 even hold your computer?鈥� de Lange questioned. 鈥淲hy not mimic a little bit more the way that most design agencies work?鈥澛�
Updating student spaces to mimic professional offices, however, isn鈥檛 exactly the most affordable endeavor. According to de Lange, a new worktable alone would cost the program $2,000 each. And with fall 2023 marking the largest incoming class for ENVD, there is a demand to expand the number of students per studio, which means more tables. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a budget available but it鈥檚 not enough to do that. We decided we could do it in-house,鈥� de Lange said.聽
Staff and student workers at the Center for Innovation &聽Creativity (CINC) began the in-house project by collectively constructing 40 custom-made tables matched with repurposed and ergonomic office chairs. With a laser-cut steel frame, wooden tops and legs cut by a CNC machine and built-in power outlets (one for each student), the tables are designed to be sturdy, long-lasting, portable and ADA accessible. They鈥檒l also encourage collaboration. 聽
鈥淭he old space didn't really foster creativity or teamwork,鈥� Arp noted. 鈥淵ou had your own desk, your own island. This way students will be working at tables with others.鈥� 聽
True to ENVD鈥檚 values, the team carried out the project with environmental sustainability in mind. Recycling and reusing pieces of the old furniture was key to the project. Old table legs were converted into light fixtures, wooden pieces from the old drafting desks were added to the new tables, shelving systems with added cubbies were constructed from outdated shelving materials and CINC scraps. 鈥淭hose sorts of things have been worked into the project,鈥� Jared noted. 鈥淥ne for budget purposes and two because it鈥檚 the right thing to do so we don鈥檛 waste this material. The types of materials that were chosen are low environmental impact, high longevity and strength.鈥� 聽
By updating the studio spaces to mimic design agencies while using a sustainable approach, incoming and current students will be better prepared to work in a professional setting after graduation. Apparently, even ghost towns need their building updates.聽
