STEAM Innovation Center, Phase 1
Otterbein University | Westerville, Ohio
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Maker Spaces
Where students can innovate and experiment
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Robust Technology Infrastructure
For high-density student population and data-dense work
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HVAC System Designed for Flexibility
So spaces can be reconfigured in the future
High-tech maker spaces foster invention
Otterbein University’s new STEAM Innovation Center is built on an ambitious plan. It gives students a place to innovate, experiment, and collaborate alongside companies that are doing the same thing. The University’s goal is to create fruitful partnerships between students and businesses – ones that take ideas from napkin sketches to market. The Center is the first of its kind in the country.
The Center provides space for students in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM). It features spaces such as a 3D printing workshop, a wood shop, a CNC machine shop, paint booths, and welding booths. Visibility is a key theme for the Center: Glass walls and transparent interior garage doors open up the maker spaces to observation, while the industrial-chic look called for highly coordinated, exposed MEPT systems.
The STEAM Innovation Center occupies a re-purposed warehouse on campus. The project is being completed in 3 phases, with Phase 1 completing the new infrastructure and approximately 30,000 SF of the interior.