Talking Stick - January/February 2010 - 8

JUST IN SPOTLIGHT Columbus College of Art and Design Columbus, Ohio Name: Design Square Apartments Opened: August 2009 Cost: $11.9 million Architect: Acock and Associates Architects The students at Columbus College of Art and Design are always looking for creative outlets to apply their abilities. However, until now, they never thought to use their residence hall furniture. The new Design Square Apartments offer students a truly creative space. The 81,000-square-foot apartments provide 208 upperclass students with apartment-style housing. Each apartment includes two to four private bedrooms, a living room, dining area, kitchenette, and shared bathrooms. The furniture includes a drafting table and a coffee table that have cuttable surfaces for students to use when working on their projects and desktops that tilt to different angles. Along with that, the interior walls include panels that enable students to showcase their work, and canvas-like walls in the exterior hallways allow residents in the community to create murals. They are designed in such a way that the walls can be repainted white every year to allow a fresh start for the incoming residents. With Design Square Apartments winning the 2009 Design Award from the American Institute of Architects’ local chapter, it comes as no surprise that even the designs in the hallways are unique. Called an “interior streetscape” by the CCAD Director of Marketing and Communications, Melissa Ricksecker, each apartment includes windows and a porch area opening into the main hallway, and the halls are opened up so that the ﬂoors above and below are visible. A major goal of this project was to include various green features, including dual-ﬂush toilets, minimum carpeting, a thermostat at every level, many entrances for natural lighting, and alternative materials to avoid the use of wood. The students also beneﬁt from a private ﬁtness center, community lounge, convenience store, and a dining hall, which is trayless in the interest of sustainability. CCAD housing ofﬁcials are excited because this is the ﬁrst time they have offered housing for upper-level students. “We want to provide them the ability to stay connected toTALKING STICK the college,” says Daniel LaFuente, director of residence life. “They need to know CCAD’s still here for them, not only in their ﬁrst years, but their subsequent years as well.” Dwayne Todd, associate vice president and dean of students, explains how important it is for these students to have a space outside the classroom to work on their projects: “We want them to feel we have built a village for them where they can interact with other art and design students. We want them to call this home, and we’ll work to accommodate their living needs.” For more information on the Design Square Apartments, visit www.ccad. edu/ccad-campus/residence-life/ design-square-apartments.

http://www.ccad.edu/ccad-campus/residence-life/design-square-apartments http://www.ccad.edu/ccad-campus/residence-life/design-square-apartments

Talking Stick - January/February 2010

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