Moravec Hall

Moravec Hall is the new main academic building for the Ivy Tech Columbus campus. Ivy Tech shares this campus with Purdue Polytechnic, the Columbus Learning Center, and Indiana University Columbus. This building replaces Poling Hall, and houses all departments for the programs offered on this campus.

In addition to classrooms and laboratories, this two story facility contains a student commons, offices for enrollment and advising services, as well as administrative spaces. The academic courses at this campus focus on healthcare sectors, including nursing, dental assisting, medical assisting, phlebotomy, and surgical tech with labs for health science and visual communication programs as well as a flight simulator for the aviation program.

The building design revolves around a central, two-story spine that has a social stair as its focus. This is not only a communicating stair, but provides intermediate landings for study and collaboration. Above the social stair are three, large roof monitors which provide ample daylight to the center of the building. The stair anchors a large Student Commons on the first floor, which is used for a variety of College events. Immediately adjacent to the Commons is a 156 seat Community Room, which has sliding doors on the corner allowing these spaces to be combined for larger events.

CSO collaborated with IwamotoScott Architecture on the design of this project. Design for the project started in February 2020, and continued uninterrupted through the COVID-19 Pandemic. Most of the design, approval and documentation was conducted remotely. Ivy Tech contracted directly with CSO for architect-of-record, engineering and furniture selection & procurement services. Then, selected IwamotoScott Architecture via a design competition sponsored by the Cummins Foundation. This project was part of grant funded by the Cummins Foundation Architectural Program in 2019.

Parkwood Amenity and Recreation Center

CSO was commissioned to design an amenity center to serve Parkwood Crossing in order to invigorate the workplace experience for tenants by offering enhanced opportunities for food service, meeting spaces, as well as indoor and outdoor fitness. The location and orientation of the building provides visitors with a peaceful and regenerative connection with the adjacent lake. PARC includes a concierge, dining facilities, a 6,000 square foot fitness center, cyber café, conference rooms, a bike share option, and collaborative spaces available to all tenants located in Parkwood Crossing.

The design concept was organized so that the “service” functions are oriented to the west side of the building, acting as a thermal and visual buffer from western sun/wind exposure and views of the large parking field. This allows the “people spaces” – the cyber café, meeting areas, and lounge spaces – to take advantage of water views and a tranquil, shaded outdoor deck. This organization is architecturally expressed through the use of a continuous stone wall plane that bisects the building into solid and void volumes. The exterior utilizes natural materials including glass, concrete, stone, wood, and colored stainless steel “shingles” which project an urban feeling.

The interior design is focused on natural light, flexibility, openness, and durability. The carpet, tile, and polished concrete co-exist nicely, providing a soothing accent to those seeking respite, nourishment, or the opportunity for exercise. The diverse seating options provide solutions for a wide variety of personal interactions while allowing for unique experiences and vantage points for visitors. The 14,000 square foot state-of-the-art amenity center goes a long way toward improving the daily workplace experience of the Parkwood Crossing business community.

Center Grove Innovation Center

Center Grove’s new Innovation Center is a hub for 21st Century learning focused on preparing students of all ages for careers in STEM fields. The Center provides a student-centered learning environment with space for a variety of student experiences including: project-based learning, community partnerships, high-level problem solving, innovative collaborative learning, and cutting edge technology.

The first phase of the project includes a robotics lab to serve as the home to the award-winning Red Alert Robotics team. Prior to the renovation, the robotics team had to test their machines in the high school hallways or empty classrooms. The new design provides ample space for fabrication/tools, assembly/testing, and a full-sized practice pit.

The second phase of the design includes a central organizing “Collaboration Zone” between three large classroom labs dedicated to Basic, Advanced, and Industrial STEM activities and three large-group areas for CAD/computer activities, design exercises, media-based collaboration, and discussions. The flexible spaces accommodate all ages, from elementary students learning with Lego ™ components, to high school students using advanced 3D printing and manufacturing processes.

The STEM labs are open to each other and can be divided to accommodate individualized activities with adjacent break-out spaces for smaller groups. Specific colors designate each STEM lab and extend out into the Collaboration Zone to easily orient young learners. Teachers are able to use electronic tablets to display information on TV screens located around the experiment room or stream videos of an experiment or activities so that all students are able to see it.