Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Drexel University: College of Engineering Innovation Studio

  • 09/01/18
Drexel University

PHOTOS © PAUL BARTHOLOMEW and © JEFFREY TOTARO

For Drexel University’s reimagined College of Engineering “Innovation Studio,” Philadelphia’s Coscia Moos Architecture combined the raw edges of makerspace with bright color, glass volumes, and environments designed to encourage interaction and collaboration. The 55,000-square-foot adaptive reuse of a former warehouse puts a sophisticated spin on engineering education for the Philadelphia-based institution.

The design transfers the engineering student experience beyond the academic classroom into an entrepreneurial environment that fosters creativity, exploration, and discovery. By consolidating freshman teaching labs from locations across campus, relocating select electrical engineering researchers, and establishing a home for the university’s new Institute for Energy and the Environment (IExE), the design encourages undergraduate and grad students of all ages and faculty to comingle, share ideas, and elevate Drexel’s STEM education.

Drexel and Coscia Moos envisioned the new facility as a critical part of students’ contributions to the Maker Movement, a trend toward design and development of products brought to market better, faster, and at a lower cost. In fact, freshmen in the College of Engineering work throughout their first year on hands-on multidisciplinary projects encompassing all areas of engineering. They learn to collaborate in teams, solve problems, and experience the real-world challenges of engineers, skills that inform the remainder of their education.

The carefully planned environment features writable walls, acoustical partitions to subdivide the space, movable tables, varied seating, ample electrical outlets, and a host of devices, including 3D printers, welding and electrical testing equipment, heavy machinery, and a wet lab.

Interspersed among the makerspaces are offices and glass-box conference rooms that quite literally put dialogue in the center of the action.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management September 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Opportunity by Design Framework

    Opportunity by Design

    Educational improvement efforts often focus on curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, and intervention systems while treating the physical school building as background. But school design is not a passive backdrop to learning — it is a structural lever for equity.

  • Secret to Efficient, On-Time School Infrastructure & Modernization Projects is All in the Preparation

    Warmer weather and longer days make summer the ideal time for construction and modernization projects at educational facilities. School boards and construction firms must coordinate effectively to ensure that these projects do not extend even a single day into the school year and impede classroom operation.

  • Higher Ed is Betting on New Buildings While Quietly Undermining Their Campuses — Here’s Why

    In this climate, the owner’s representative has changed from a delivery-focused advisor to a strategic campus partner. Institutions are increasingly relying on owner’s reps not just to manage, cope, schedule, and budget, but also help evaluate whether a project should proceed at all.

  • Missouri Child Development Center Completes $2.3M Expansion

    The Urban Sprouts Child Development Center in St. Louis, Mo., recently announced the completion of a $2.3-million expansion and adaptive reuse project, according to a news release. The new space includes a retail café, outdoor learning space, and a support office building.