The Design Innovation Hub (DI Hub) at Kent State University

 

The Design Innovation Hub (DI Hub) at Kent State University

Opening in the fall of 2020, the Design Innovation Hub (DI Hub) at Kent State University operates as an open-access, collaborative maker and innovation accelerator environment, open to and serving the entire KSU campus. The 65,000 square-foot Di Hub is an adaptive reuse of the 1970s-era former Art Building at the center of the Kent Campus.

To achieve Kent State’s goals of activating a campus-wide community of invention and facilitating cross-disciplinary communication and problem-solving, the renovated building features spaces to serve every step of the innovation/creation process. This includes hatchery spaces (for research), think tank areas (for ideation), prototyping labs (for testing), and makerspaces (for making). Unique to the collegiate makerspace typology, the DI Hub is also home to a significant dining component, which acts as an active campus thoroughfare that puts design thinking and implementation on display.

Domokur Architects served as the Architect of Record on this project and provided full architectural services as well as coordinated a wide range of specialty and engineering services that included new Exterior Envelope design, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Technology and Structural Engineering. “The Domokur team orchestrated a large and complex group of designers, construction managers and owner stakeholders to ensure we never lost sight of the vision for what this building could be and never sacrificed important practical and functional concerns in pursuit of an elegant design solution.” - Michael Bruder, Former Director of Design and Construction for the KSU Office of the University Architect. Ultimately, Domokur Architects was able to manage the number of moving parts of a complex project such as this and collaborate as a team to successfully deliver a beautiful building within a tight budget and an incredibly accelerated schedule.