Kent State University: Center for Architecture and Environmental Design

Kent State University 

PHOTOS © ZACH BUTLER AND ROBERT CHRISTY

While Kent State University’s Center for Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) is receiving rave reviews for its siting; what it has done to bridge the gap between downtown Kent, OH, and the university; being on target to receive a LEED Platinum rating and its exquisite formal composition and material use; much also needs to be said about its programming, circulation, spatial diagram and support of the design studio teaching/learning enterprise.

The recently completed 117,000-square-foot facility — home to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design’s multiple design disciplines — is the result of an international design competition won by Weiss/Manfredi Architects. From the outside, the building is a stunning combination of glass curtain walls — allowing north light to flood the studio spaces — and solid masonry enclosures interrupted by a syncopated rhythm of fins made of the same honey-hued, custom bricks.

Inside, a three-level, 650-seat cascading studio loft space encourages head’s-up awareness, peer-to-peer learning and cross-disciplinary engagement. Integrated communicating stairs facilitate movement through the studios, punctuated by two glass-enclosed critique spaces that provide seen-but-not-heard spaces for pin-ups and formal reviews. The north-facing studios are flanked by supporting infrastructure including a FabLAB, lighting lab, advanced computational labs, 3D printing and an additive manufacturing lab that provide students the tools for both hands-on and digital learning in support of the college’s emphasis on both the Art and Science of Design.

On the ground level, public space stretching the length of the building organizes four public venues, including a glass enclosed 200-seat lecture hall, an exhibition gallery, a café and an architecture library featuring an open reading room. Behind those venues and a monumental stair at the east entry end of the building are classrooms that support traditional learning.

The CAED, however, is more than its form and the materials it’s made of. It’s a design that encourages the kind of rigorous design-research and learning that is shaping the future designers of the built environment.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Los Angeles City College Breaks Ground on New Administration, Workforce Building

    Los Angeles City College (LACC) in Los Angeles, Calif., recently broke ground on a new $72-million administrative facility, according to a news release. The Cesar Chavez Administration and Workforce Building will stand four stories, cover 67,230 square feet, and play home to a wide variety of the school’s educational and administrative services.

  • University of Kansas Opens $400M Football Stadium Reconstruction

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently announced that the $400-million reconstruction of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is complete in time for the 2025 football season, according to a news release. The university partnered with Turner Construction Company on the project.

  • Case Study Highlights Texas District’s Campus Security Upgrades

    The Taft Independent School District near Corpus Christi, Texas, recently partnered with Intech Southwest Services to revamp its campus security technology system, according to a news release. Intech has released a case study on its website detailing the process that advanced the district’s technology by more than 20 years in less than three weeks.

  • Pittsburgh High School Upgrades Athletics Facilities’ Technology

    Plum Senior High School in Pittsburgh, Penn., recently partnered with South-Dakota-based Daktronics through the We’re All Mustangs Here Foundation to upgrade the technology in its athletics facilities, according to a news release. Daktronics designed, built, and installed new LED video displays and finished the project in time for the beginning of the 2025 high-school football season.