Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Colorado State University: The Nancy Richardson Design Center

  • 09/01/19
Colorado State University 

PHOTOS © STEVE MAYLONE

The $19.2-million, 45,000-square-foot Nancy Richardson Design Center (RDC) on the campus of Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins opened in the spring of 2019. Colorado-based OZ Architecture was tasked with designing a world-class facility to further CSU’s mission as a national leader in design and to create a collaborative space for students and faculty in programs from interior architecture and design, apparel and merchandising, landscape architecture, art, and engineering to product development, entrepreneurship, and construction management.

A primary design driver was to create a space where students and faculty were inspired to ideate, make, and show their work. To that end, the RDC includes a lighting lab, color studio, fabrication labs with high-tech digital routers and milling machines for metal and wood, a prototyping lab with 3D printers and laser cutters, a screen-printing lab, an ultraviolet hybrid printer, textile printers, a seam welding machine, quilting and embroidery machines, a 3D scanner, a vinyl cutter, and a large-format printer.

OZ Interior Design Director Tracy Tafoya, an alum of the design program at CSU, staked a personal interest in creating something for the next generation of designers. “I wanted to be part of designing a place that reflects the high level of creativity and innovation we continue to see from CSU’s talented design students and graduates,” she says.

Communal elements such as garage doors off the fabrication labs open to an “oasis” where students are encouraged to work outdoors and allow transparency of the design process. Pedestrians traversing campus can also walk through a covered portal called “Inspiration Alley,” where glass walls provide a view into the gallery space and ideation lab, highlighting what is possible within.

This facility was made possible due to the support of Nancy and Curt Richardson, cofounders of OtterBox and Blue Ocean. Nancy is also an interior design graduate of CSU.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management September 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • California District Debuts New High-School CTE Center

    The West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) in Sebastopol, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new CTE Center at Analy High School, according to a news release. The district partnered with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) for the facility’s design and GCCI for its construction, and funding came from local Measure A bond funds.

  • Wenger Names New Vice President of Sales for Performing Arts, Controls

    Wenger Corporation, which provides products and solutions for music and theater education, performing arts and athletic storage, recently announced the hiring of a new Vice President of Sales for Performing Arts and Controls.

  • California District Opens New Robotics Center

    The Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD) in Cupertino, Calif., recently held a Grand Opening ceremony for a new, district-wide Robotics Center, according to a news release. The 14,500-square-foot facility was designed by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA); Landmark Constructors served as the builder and Blach Construction as general construction manager.

  • Texas A&M Opens First Building at Fort Worth Campus, Breaks Ground on Research Facility

    The Texas A&M University System marked a major milestone in the development of its Fort Worth campus by opening its first completed academic building and breaking ground on a second facility designed to expand research and industry collaboration.