Driven by the desire to flip a dated lecture hall concept into an interactive and collaborative space, CCAC hired HDG to provide architectural services for the renovation of an existing 1,200 sq. ft. lecture hall at the college’s South Campus located in West Mifflin. In the newly renovated space, aptly dubbed the Collaboration and Innovation Classroom, students are no longer sitting in rows facing the front of the classroom. Instead, the new furniture layout conceptualized by the college and brought to life by Corbett, Inc. with KI furniture, turns students so that they are facing each other, but still have ample visibility of the instructor. Monitors provided throughout the room create an interactive learning space with technology to allow students to screen mirror their own devices. To accommodate the furniture design which included horizontal and vertical whiteboard surfaces, the existing narrow tiers of seating were combined to create larger platforms with integral power. In addition to providing a space that allows for an innovative approach to teaching, the modernized classroom provides ADA accessibility that was not possible with the previous layout. An existing platform at the front of the room was removed to provide space for ADA accessible seating for students and an accessible teaching space. New LED lighting, sleek finishes and bright, modern colors round out the design to help spark creativity for students using the space.
