CO Architects

The University of California, Riverside began construction in October of 2021 on the $100 million Education Building II to provide innovative learning environments for the School of Medicine. Created by the design-build team of CO Architects and Hensel Phelps Construction Company, the 90,000-gsf (57,000-asf) facility will feature state-of-the-art classrooms, lecture halls, and specialized instructional venues. The five-level building will also provide meeting rooms, study areas, lounges, support spaces, and faculty offices.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas broke ground on the Medical Education Building in late October of 2020. Designed by TSK and CO Architects, the five-story, 135,000-gsf facility will be the first permanent structure for the School of Medicine. Funded by $155 million in philanthropic contributions, the project is being developed by Nevada Health and Bioscience Corporation through a public-private partnership.

California State University, Sacramento opened the $91 million Ernest E. Tschannen Science Complex in September of 2019. Designed by CO Architects to accommodate the departments of biology and chemistry, the five-story, 96,631-sf structure offers teaching and research labs, classrooms, a 120-seat planetarium, and a rooftop observatory. Learning studios, labs, and corridors utilize glass walls to put science on display, and student collaboration areas with full-height vertical wood fins provide semi-private spaces for interaction.

Multi-disciplinary project-based learning has changed how and where student activities occur, and institutions have responded by creating novel labs, teaching facilities, gathering areas, and maker spaces designed for students and faculty across diverse disciplines—engineering, life sciences, and liberal arts. A number of projects throughout the country highlight important design considerations—including location, flexibility, adaptability, and transparency—that suit new ways of learning and provide universities with opportunities for marketing and recruitment. Post-occupancy data from the University of North Carolina provides real-world findings that can help others improve the design of current and future maker spaces.

The term “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (4IR) was coined in 2016 by Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, to describe the exponential transformation society and commerce are experiencing due to converging breakthroughs in numerous fields, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, the internet of things (IoT), and quantum computing. While this latest advancement is to some degree an extension of the third revolution (aka: The Digital Revolution), 4IR is considered a new era because of the unprecedented speed, scope, and systems impact of the coming changes. It is evolving at an exponential rate rather than a linear one and is expected to disrupt entire systems of production, management, transportation, and governance on a global scale. In response, a new breed of interdisciplinary research facility is emerging, as academic institutions try to anticipate training students for the unforeseen demands of the 4IR.