Kent State University Innovation and Dining Hub

This project included the complete renovation of the existing School of Art Building into a Design and Innovation Center that includes a lecture hall, classrooms, studios, and 24/7 maker spaces and dining. The new center focuses on design thinking and entrepreneurship across multiple academic disciplines and includes advanced collaborative workspaces and maker spaces.

In addition, the building will include a large dining venue for students, faculty, and staff. This venue will seat approximately 350 people served through multiple food venues. The dining activity will bring vibrancy and social interactions to the building occupants to enhance the cross-pollination of disciplines and foster creative thinking. The building’s location in the heart of campus and along the Esplanade has the potential to transform and update this area of campus through improved site design, landscape architecture/planning, and addressing issues with the building service needs.

The building is LEED Silver certified as a minimum goal.