“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]

As designers it’s often hard to for us to articulate the power of great design to new clients. It’s exciting when the impact of design is recognized and called out by users, as we saw in a recent assessment of Duke University’s Link, the Duke Teaching and Learning Center that opened in the lower level of Perkins Library in August 2008. Designed to encourage collaborative work and project-based learning, the Link answers a bigger question: how do we learn and how can our environments best support this? The Link is the culmination of our extensive planning and partnership with ...[more]

DURHAM, NC – The Winter 2009 edition of Duke Law Magazine makes it clear: Law School faculty, students, staff, and alumni are all reveling in the new J. Michael Goodson Library and Star Commons. In the article, “From Library to Commons” writer Forrest Norman recaps the building’s November 8 dedication, which included a keynote address by US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Duke President Richard Brodhead is quoted as saying “When you reach the point where a great law school has a great building, you realize it wasn’t just an ornament. It really is an enabler of things.”

In the words of Duke Law alumnus George Krouse, “The combination of this ...[more]

DURHAM, NC – Duke Law School’s new Star Commons has been recognized for its highly sustainable design and operations, receiving LEED certification from the US Green Building Council. The light-filled Star Commons is highly energy-efficient, with vapor barriers for heat conservation and high-performance glazing. Great care was taken to recycle a high percentage of construction debris from the project, which also emphasized the use of materials low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The 4,000 s.f. Commons was part of a larger addition and renovation project for the law school, which included a renovation of ...[more]