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

  • KI Launches K–12 Classroom Furniture Giveaway

    Contract furniture company KI recently announced the launch of its fourth-annual Classroom Furniture Giveaway, which awards $50,000 each to four K–12 educators across the U.S., according to a news release. The goal is to address decreasing student engagement and increasing teacher burnout numbers by updating learning spaces to accommodate modern needs.

  • Missouri State University Debuts Construction Education Center

    Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo., recently opened a new 10,000-square-foot addition and renovation to support the School of Construction, Design, and Project Management, according to university news. The Construction Education Success Center, built onto the existing Kemper Hall, provides academic space for the school’s construction managers and cost $9.6 million.

  • Florida SouthWestern State College, Skanska Partner for Humanities Hall Renovation

    Florida SouthWestern State College (FSW) in Fort Myers, Fla., recently announced that it is partnering with construction firm Skanska to renovate the school’s Humanities Hall, according to a news release.

  • FAU Starts Construction on Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building

    Florida Atlantic University recently began construction on a new academic building for its campus in Boca Raton, Fla., according to university news. The Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building will stand two stories, measure in at 22,000 square feet, and play home to the university’s Holocaust education and Jewish studies programs.