Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

University of Rochester

Ronald Rettner Hall for Media Arts and Innovation

  • 02/01/14
University of Rochester 

PHOTOS © ADAM FENSTER / UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

The University of Rochester in New York has built an 18,900-square-foot, three-story facility designed as a hub for the arts, sciences and engineering. Opened in the fall of 2013 on the institution’s River Campus, the building houses two of the university’s newest majors: digital media studies, and audio and music engineering.

Ronald Rettner Hall, built for $12.8 million, provides a place for students to gain both practical skills and theoretical understanding of digital technology. It features an engineering fabrication lab where students can build prototypes, a multipurpose learning studio, group study areas and an exhibit space for displaying projects. The facility contains sound and video recording studios, high-end computers and 3-D printers — the latest manufacturing technique to convert digital design into actual models.

Rettner Hall’s open design features space on each floor overlooking the level below, and its popular “Tree House” is a casual lounge where students can brainstorm, relax and recharge. With flexible spaces designed for interaction, it is open 24 hours a day.

“Our students’ capacity to think critically and flexibly is the key to their future success,” says Peter Lennie, Rochester’s provost. “Rettner Hall provides them with a place to harness their talents broadly and discover news ways to connect the creative arts to the sciences and engineering.”

“In this space, there are unlimited possibilities,” adds Rob Clark, senior vice president for research and dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “Now students from diverse backgrounds will have a place to use their talents broadly and discover new ways to connect the arts and humanities to sciences and engineering. The unique environment will foster learning, creativity and collaboration.”

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Auburn University Debuts $224M STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex

    Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., recently opened its new $224-million STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex, the largest research construction project in the university’s history, according to university news. The facility measures more than 265,000 square feet and brings six departments from the College of Agriculture and College of Sciences and Mathematics together under one roof.

  • Phoenix High School Completes First Phase of Campus Renovations

    Metro Tech High School, part of the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) in Phoenix, Ariz., recently announced the completion of the first stage of a campus renovation project, according to a news release. The school reopened a series of public-facing business operations spaces including credit union, daycare, floral, cosmetology, and culinary services. It also includes new CTE learning spaces for the school’s nursing assistant, pharmacy, and sports medicine programs.

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • University of Kentucky Reopens Scovell Hall

    The University of Kentucky recently reopened Scovell Hall, part of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE), following comprehensive renovations to the 120-year-old facility in Lexington, Ky., according to a news release.