Contract - March 2013 - (Page 50)

education By Caroline Tiger Photography by Scott Pease Photography Updating a community college interior into a progressive learning environment When Lorain County Community College was founded in 1963, its campus in Elyria, Ohio was built to accommodate 6,500 to 7,000 students. By this century, those numbers had doubled and the students’ needs had changed, but the campus’s design had not been reconsidered in any significant way since the 1970s. The school’s leadership decided it was time to invest in infrastructure, but a broader masterplan for the future was needed. understanding how students learn today Boston-based Sasaki Associates was hired to first develop the comprehensive campus masterplan, and its sustainable scheme called for one new building and renovation of a series of others. The eight-year project, led by principals Bryan Irwin and Katia Lucic, culminated in the conversion of the nearly 50-year-old library, a rabbit warren of book stacks, dark offices, and blind corridors into iLoft, a bright, progressive learning center designed to adapt to an evolving academic culture. During the research phase, Sasaki worked with the college’s learning space design team to define how today’s students learn through, unplanned interactions. “It’s more about group work now, and the ability to move away from the instructor as sage and more as a mentor who guides you through the learning process,” says Laura Carissimi, director of purchasing and facilities planning at the college. Another goal for the designers was to help mitigate the college’s low student retention rate. Research shows students are most successful when they engage more with peers and faculty, as well as spend more time on campus—a real challenge on a commuter campus. And the renovation had to be durable and flexible. “Public education doesn’t get a lot of chances to do this kind of thing,” says Carissimi. “You get your one shot every 30 to 40 years—we wanted it to last, to be fun, and to encourage students to study, learn, and use the spaces.” ensuring students and faculty have choices Irwin, Lucic, and their team kept the old library’s exterior skin, roof, and columns, but gutted the rest of the two-story building. For each floor, they designed two rows of classrooms that flank the north and south 50 contractdesign.com march 2013 http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - March 2013

Contract - March 2013
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Columnist: Gaining Projects in the Education Market
Exhibition: Cevisama
Product Focus: On the Move
Product Briefs: Education
University of Toronto Rotman School of Management
Bangkok University Imagine Lounge
Lorain County Community College iLoft
Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall, Sonoma State University
Forum Overview: Contract Design Forum Looks Toward the Future
Designers Select: Education Solutions
Sources
Ad Index
Perspectives

Contract - March 2013