BIG in partnership with BNIM and the University of Kansas have unveiled plans for a new six-story creative academic space that will help consolidate formerly separate learning environments for students in the School of Architecture & Design. Comprising a diagrid frame, the Makers’ KUbe is a 50,000-square-foot mass timber cube structure connecting the school’s renovated Marvin Hall and Chalmers Hall buildings from 1908 and 1978, respectively. 

Mahbub Rashid, the new Dean of the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design, said: "BIG’s willingness to both listen to us and push us has conceived a project that celebrates our history and embodies the ambitious optimism that animates our academic mission."

As Rashid mentioned, the design is the product of a collaborative effort that brought together students, faculty, and board members in order to create a hub-like embodiment of KU’s four primary principles: "to become an emblem of creativity; to create a connected campus hub; to be innovative and future-proof; and to showcase environmental stewardship."

The building program includes design studios and winter garden footbridges that connect with either adjacent structure on the second floor. 3D printing/robotic labs and a ground floor café are also included, all oriented to its spiraling fire-proof staircase and open floor plan. Floorplates are cut to create traditional portioned classroom spaces in alternating single- and double-height sequences. 

Its structural design is inspired by traditional Japanese wood joinery and uses glulam timber beams and columns with tight-fitt dowels to avoid the need for steel plates and fasteners while minimizing the use of architectural concrete throughout. 

A glass facade completes the enclosure, helping address the campus and Wescoe Drive with inward-angeled, corner-canopied entrances sans the incorporation of any cladding or supplemental finishes. The enclosure includes a biodegradable hempwool material that is exposed within the facade’s shadow boxes for improved thermal performance. Open terraces on the roof's corners and a photovoltaic array with rainwater retention offer further carbon emissions capabilities while completing the design on top.

"The building serves as a living curriculum, revealing all function, technology and structure as tangible elements for the students to appreciate and critique — learning solidified into built form," Bjarke Ingels commented.

Partner Thomas Christoffersen stated: "Our KU School of Architecture & Design master plan preserves the school's heritage buildings while keeping them relevant for the 21st century; extends the life and livability of the existing buildings with minimal intervention; and builds a new structure with low-carbon solutions. These programs not only showcase the next chapter of our profession, but they will also inspire the designers of tomorrow to envision a sustainable future." 

BIG’s Alana Goldweit is the project’s Design Lead. The scheme is part of the firm’s larger (178,663-square-foot) master plan for the campus and follows the recent design for the Robert Day Sciences Center at California's Claremont McKenna College that's under construction for 2025.