Studio 25: A Contemporary Space For Creative Work and Instruction
Studio25 is a renovation project of an existing teaching studio space within an architecture and design school that is designed and built by fourth year interior design students over two years. The project tackles challenges in the current teaching studio layout, designed 25 years ago, by completely reimagining it for contemporary creative work and instruction. This radical rethinking of the space led to a project that offers significant flexibility in its organization, consolidated programmatic elements, as well as its bespoke pragmatic detailing.
The project was almost entirely designed and built by students at the College of Architecture and Design in the American University of Sharjah over two years, within a Design-Build class taught by Associate Professor and Director of Labs Ammar Kalo. Pedagogically, Studio25 was a unique opportunity for students to not only design and build an entire interior space at full scale, but also delve deeply into the intricacies of detailing for interiors and furniture at different levels using various fabrication techniques.
The space was designed as a paperless studio integrating an open area with an interactive screen and cloud-connected computers that can flexibly accommodate various activities previously held in separate rooms. Groups of low tables encourage collaboration, while furniture clusters combining multiple functions surround the studio act as a physical and visual buffer between the studio and public areas.
College users were initially surveyed about the existing studio layouts, informing the program and design which students worked on in groups, and developed through successive concept iterations and fabricated prototypes. In addition to their design-build contributions, students worked on a few dedicated tasks throughout the project including documentation, material specifications, modeling and drafting, supplier coordination, and accounting.
In conclusion, Studio25 was a vehicle to tackle pedagogical, design, and fabrication issues through full scale production, providing a comprehensive design-build experience for the students.
Images and Plans
Technical Description
Phasing:
Design-build studios within the Interior Design program have typically engaged in small scale interventions within the college, however this project introduces a more ambitious approach in terms of the scale and scope of the project through meticulous planning and phasing. The project commenced in Spring of 2021 with the first group of students and was completed at the end of Spring 2022 by the second batch. The first phase focused on reimagining the studio layout, and designing / fabricating all the furniture pieces within the space including work tables and benches. The second phase focused on the studio perimeter which included storage lockers, display units, pinup wall, and integrated technologies. The Summer and Fall semesters in between were used to seek and coordinate with potential donors, set up upcoming phases, and to apply any finishing touches required.