In tandem with MSU’s plenary session presentation, here we dig deeper into the new STEM learning facility at Michigan State University with a focus on distinctive features setting a new high bar for STEM building design. This includes next-level-flexible learning labs for emerging pedagogies, the use of mass to support carbon-neutrality goals, and adaptive reuse of a historic facility for inspiring STEM spaces. They scope out the up-front vs lifecycle costs of extreme flexibility, how mass timber changes the equation for design decisions and budgets, and where student support space metrics are headed.