Student Innovation Center, Iowa State University
Substance Architecture
Recognitions:
AIA Iowa 2021 Design Award
Project Description
This building is a centralized resource serving all nine colleges that comprise a University. The building is open to all 36,000+ students and represents a shift in campus-wide pedagogy away from traditional passive learning toward a hands-on, interactive teaching model. The 140,000 square foot building is without precedent and required a rigorous, probative programming process to determine what the building should be. A series of focus groups resulted in each College identifying what their student’s “make” (from music to food to business plans) and, in turn, what spaces and equipment would facilitate these activities. The building becomes a container that is filled with an evolving set of “maker” spaces ranging from metal, wood and composite fabrication shops, to a test kitchen, café and retail outlet, to a rooftop garden. Innovative teaching formats are supported with flexible, technology-enabled classrooms in unique formats found nowhere else on campus. Finally, a gallery space was included to display the results of “making” campus wide.