This design case describes the process by which a private office was renovated using the Working Labs model, which engages students, faculty, and staff in hands-on engagement from project conception through completion and beyond into ongoing evaluation of everyday use. The spaces that follow the Working Labs model are intended to provide students…

Designing break-the-mold classrooms--learning spaces that depart dramatically from traditional classrooms--comes with increased risk, especially when the design will be replicated multiple times within a new building. One way to reduce risk is to build a life-size mock-up classroom before making final design decisions. This can help faculty better…

This article describes how Beverly and Martin Ryfa, working with an architect who specializes in accessible design, were able to build a house that is handicap accessible for their 9-year-old daughter, Danielle, who suffered an intraventricular hemorrhage when she was three days old. The article describes the features of their house that make…

As campus renovation projects go, the Ohio State University's plan to turn its main library into "a library for the 21st century" is ambitious. The author describes the decade-long, $109 million transformation of the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library. The overhaul calls for a complete replacement of all mechanical and electrical…

The project described in this article addresses the therapeutic use of physical space in an outpatient counseling facility. It was theorized that an improved facility environment could be used as a practice tool when working with a vulnerable population. The authors undertook the project with limited time and finances. The process of the change…

Even at land-grant institutions, faculty seldom work with commercial retailers on community programs. Retailers can help with outreach and engagement programs because they provide the "natural habitat" for consumers the programs seek to address. Allied health, family science, and interior design faculty at the Ohio State University…