An interface between making, learning, and discovery

Enhancing undergraduate learning through innovation, the Diane Bryant Engineering Student Design Center provides UC Davis students a central location for access to equipment, expertise, and collaborative resources. The result of a renovation and expansion of the existing Engineering Fabrication Laboratory in Bainer Hall, design of this makerspace creates synergies between programs to establish an interdisciplinary, team-oriented, and adaptable hands-on learning environment.

Engineering principles of ideation, fabrication, and assembly inform the program and define a planning concept for the 24,000-square-foot facility. Program components reflect the department's diverse education experience which includes engineering design as well as entrepreneurship. Shop-type space for prototyping is supported by wet-bench laboratory, computational facilities, and general areas for interaction that serve student competition teams, senior capstone projects, and similar discovery-themed endeavors.

With articulation that creates a unique identity for Bainer Hall, the design mediates the scale of nearby historic buildings as it forms a portal to the College of Engineering. Energy and environmental goals – exposure to daylight and views, acoustic control, and quality indoor air – target LEED Gold certification while influencing the design in support of the learning experience. These goals are realized in the extensive perimeter glazing as it frames an exhibition of activities within. Seen from the adjacent pedestrian pathway, the College's culture of ongoing exploration can be shared with the campus community.

Flad Architects (programming and bridging documents through design development), WMB Architects (design-build architect of record)