Philadelphia University broke ground Friday on the new home of the College of Design, Engineering, and Commerce. The $20 million academic building is designed to support the innovative curriculum of the new college, which emphasizes interdisciplinary, project-based learning and collaborative problem-solving.

“The College of Design, Engineering and Commerce is unique and this striking new building that will support and enhance the powerful academic experience,” said Philadelphia University president Stephen Spinelli. “Students gain expertise in their disciplines and a fluency in the transdisciplinary ways of the 21st-century work world on a much larger scale than what we’ve seen in higher ...[more]

“Collaboration Station,” a feature in the May 2011 issue of University Business magazine, discusses the design of collaborative study spaces in higher education. Ed Gomes of Duke University talks about the Duke Link, the interactive teaching and learning space designed by Shepley Bulfinch which opened in 2008, noting that the project “was about creating an atmosphere in which people can experiment.”

Since the Link opened in 2008 it has attracted significant attention from institutions of higher education and architects across the US. Ed Gomes discussed the Link’s creation in a ...[more]

The Harvard Innovation Lab passed a major milestone last week when the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) approved plans to transform the former WGBH building in the Allston section of Boston into an environment that advances collaboration and entrepreneurship.

“The Innovation Lab is an entirely new model for Harvard,” said Gabe Handel, Managing Director of the Dean’s office at Harvard Business School, in a release issued on Friday. “It is an innovation in and of itself.”

Physically located on the Harvard Business School campus, the Harvard Innovation Lab will encourage entrepreneurship and innovation University-wide.

Cherry Murray, Dean of Harvard’s School of Engineering, said, “I see the Harvard Innovation Lab as having the potential to ...[more]

Design is now underway for the Harvard Innovation Lab (Harvard I-Lab), a campus-wide innovation incubator located on the Harvard Business School campus in Boston.

In announcing the project, Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust said, “The importance of innovation cannot be overstated. It is also of utmost importance and great interest to our students and faculty, many of whom are inventors and entrepreneurs. The lab will foster team-based activities and deepen interactions among both aspiring and experienced innovators across the schools of Harvard.”

Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria said, “Our goal is to drive innovation by connecting entrepreneurial teams, not only across the Charles River, but nationally and internationally, in an interdisciplinary ...[more]

It’s official! Salem State University (Salem, MA) broke ground for its new library and learning commons on December 7. University president Patricia Maguire Meservey and Jacob Segal, chair of the university’s board of trustees, were joined by local political leaders and top state education officials in a ceremony on the university’s north campus.

The 124,000 square foot facility replaces the previous campus library, which was closed in late 2007 for concerns about its structural safety. The four-story library will include instructional labs, group study rooms, and a testing center, and ...[more]

Shepley Bulfinch is designing a home for Philadelphia University’s new College of Design, Engineering, and Commerce, which has just been announced.

The new academic building will house an ambitious program, defined by the university as a “revolutionary, transdisciplinary curriculum that retains the core learning of each discipline while forging new collaborations between the fields of design, engineering, and business.”

The new 40,000 s.f. building will be located near two other Shepley Bulfinch projects on the Philadelphia University campus: Gutman Library (1993) and Kanbar Campus Center (2006). The firm’s other recent cross-disciplinary learning environments in higher education ...[more]