The new Shepley Bulfinch website, designed by Fuego5, LLC, received a “Best in Class” award for its design, development, and implementation by the Interactive Media Awards (IMA), sponsored by the Interactive Media Council. In a format that is clear and easy to navigate, the site provides visitors with detailed information about the firm’s projects, awards, and history, as well as the design professionals and vision that are among its greatest assets.

The award recognizes that the redesigned website met and surpassed standards of excellence that comprise the web’s most professional work. Among the criteria considered by judges were the site’s design, usability, innovation in technical features, standards compliance, and content. To ...[more]

How does a liberal arts education remain a valid, viable and affordable pathway for millennial students?

That was the big question at last week’s conference at Wake Forest on Rethinking Success, from the Liberal Arts to Careers in the 21st century, which drew academic and student development leaders from across the country.

Conference participants talked at length about how the skills that are central to academic success are also vital to building a sustainable career in the 21st century. It is imperative that colleges and universities not only support the skills ...[more]

Shepley Bulfinch’s design of the Anderson University Center at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota has won a Facilities Design Award from the Association of College Unions International (ACUI), it was announced at ACUI’s annual conference last week.

“This award honors more than the design of the Anderson Center,” said Shepley Bulfinch project designer Luke Voiland. “It recognizes the value of a design and planning process that brought everyone to the table.”

Since it opened last fall, the Carol Young Anderson and Dennis L. Anderson Center has become the heart of ...[more]

Hamline University celebrated the newest addition to the school’s St. Paul, Minnesota, campus on Friday, with the dedication of the Carol Young Anderson and Dennis L. Anderson University Center.

Hamline President Linda Hanson was joined by alumni, students, faculty, staff, and community leaders for the event, and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman proclaimed October, 5 2012 as Hamline University Anderson Center Day in the city. Composer and pianist Steven C. Anderson, Hamline ’88, debuted “Gratitude,” his musical composition commissioned for the occasion, at the alumni dinner the previous evening.

In her ...[more]

Colorado College marked the renovation of the college’s dining facilities at the Worner Center with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony today on the Center’s south patio. President Jill Tiefenthaler welcomed guests to the event, which was followed by a tour of Rastall Hall.

The renovation has transformed the tired facility into a bright, dynamic social space for Colorado College that is both welcoming and energy-efficient. Central to the project’s success are new serveries with Energy Star-rated equipment and an easy-to-navigate layout. An interactive flat-screen monitors energy consumption in the building.

The project, ...[more]

An interesting read from Metropolis on how IDEO is working with different federal agencies (“IDEO takes on the government“) to design better and more humanized processes – further proof that design thinking has the power to change even non-material things.

I was especially taken with the descriptions of the interactive charrette-type exercises that everyone wanted to be involved in. People are excited to share what they know in a creative way.

It seems to be a change for a governmental system that is structured to give power to the representative few. ...[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]

2010 PKAL Learning Space Collaboratory National Colloquium. Whew! That’s quite a mouthful. I was fortunate enough to attend, and it was a great weekend of very robust discussion (and some fun!).

Under the guidance of Jeannie Narum, Principal of the Collaboratory, nearly a hundred educators, higher ed administrators, architects, planners, landscape architects, librarians, scientists, and others came together to share their knowledge and questions about “What We Know About Planning Learning Spaces and What We Still Need to Know”.

A combination of presentations, interactive sessions, small group work, the Colloquium modeled the type of ...[more]