Michigan State University

STEM Complex

East Lansing, Michigan

Size
134,600 gsf new
48,600 gsf renovation

Services
Feasibility Study
Programming
Lab Planning
Architecture

Role
Ellenzweig
Design Architect and Laboratory Planner

IDS
Architect of Record and Designer of Power Plant Renovation

Awards
I2SL Sustainable Laboratory Award for Excellence in Decarbonization

U.S. WoodWorks Design Award for Wood in Schools

Forest Stewardship Council Leadership Award

Associated General Contractors Build America Grand Award Winner

Associated General Contractors Build Michigan Grand Award Winner

ENR Midwest Best Projects Award of Merit

The STEM Complex brings together into one facility a variety of undergraduate teaching laboratories previously dispersed across the Michigan State campus. More than 100,000 square feet of teaching laboratories accommodate the increased demand for instruction in science, technology, engineering, and math-related courses. The Complex consists of two laboratory “wings” and a decommissioned 1940’s power plant, repurposed to house key program spaces. The laboratory wings and the renovated power plant create an integrated, flexible, interdisciplinary center for STEM teaching and learning.

The STEM Complex was the first building in the state of Michigan to use mass timber for its load-bearing structure. The structural frame of the labs is comprised of cross-laminated timber (CLT) floors and walls, and glue-laminated columns and beams. In the repurposed power plant, all of the new floors employ cross-laminated floor decking.

The laboratory wings are home to learning spaces for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, and Engineering. The teaching labs are all designed to maximize flexibility, utilizing an overhead service grid with specially designed vertical service drops to allow table locations to be easily and quickly reconfigured. Further, the suite of rooms includes movable walls in strategic locations so that spaces can be enlarged or subdivided as learning needs evolve. All of the spaces embrace an active-learning approach, emphasizing team-based learning, and a variety of break-out and collaboration spaces adjacent to the labs support the new team-based pedagogies.

The overhead service grid provides all laboratory services from above, which allows the student benches to be lightweight steel-frame tables, completely movable, thus avoiding heavy and permanent wood cabinetry. This approach significantly reduced the overall use of materials on the project, and avoids the additional resources (and waste) of future renovation projects to modify lab layouts.

Spaces in the renovated and repurposed 1940’s Power Plant include the Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology, Building Commons, maker spaces, student help-space, and faculty and staff offices.

At MSU we are constantly evaluating how we deliver a world-class education while also looking forward. What is the future of teaching? What is the future of learning? Nowhere is that more evident than the new STEM Teaching and Learning Facility. We looked beyond just constructing a building to how the curriculum is delivered and how spaces are used, with a focus on the student experience. The potential impact is unlimited.

Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, President

Michigan State University

Read more

Promoting spaces for research collaboration
Flexibility in teaching lab design