Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Student Center Goes From Dreary to Vibrant

  • 11/01/15
Student Center Goes From Dreary to Vibrant

Transforming the student center at Waukesha County Technical College required new and vibrant lighting. Solatube was up to the challenge.

The Waukesha Campus of Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) in Waukesha, WI, includes a service building, which housed a student center in need of new life.

“The cave-like environment of the student gathering area was very oppressive. It was truly incredible to see the transformation of the space once the Solatube units were installed,” says Keith Johnson, owner of Brighter Concepts.

Dubbed “the cave” for its dark and gloomy atmosphere, the student center was unpopular with students. With a budget of $600,000, the school sought to transform the dark and dreary environment into a bright and cheerful place where students would want to congregate.

According to Matthew Kerr, IIDA, ASAI, senior associate and interior designer at Zimmerman Architectural Studios, the renovation’s main objectives were filling the space with natural light and creating auditory separation without disrupting the visual “openness” of the existing space.

Local Solatube Certified Commercial Distributor, Brighter Concepts, installed twelve Solatube SolaMaster 750 DS Core Units. The units integrated with LED lighting for nighttime use and maximum energy efficiency. Custom square-shaped fabric lanterns added a decorative element at the ceiling level.

According to Brooks Kyler-Eberlein, WCTC interior design instructor, the addition of Solatube Daylighting Systems took “the cave” from an underused, dark space to a vibrant, active hub for students. The use of natural light by day and LED light by night also provided WCTC with an efficient long-term solution to energy costs.

www.solatube.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Colorado School District Breaks Ground on Unified PK–12 Campus

    The Haxtun School District No. Re-2J in Haxtun, Colo., recently announced that ground has been broken on a renovation/addition project that will unite its two schools, Haxtun Elementary and Haxtun Jr/Sr High School, according to a news release.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.