Sears think[BOX]

What is think[Box]?

Located in Cleveland, Ohio, think[Box] is a makerspace whose purpose is to foster growth and inspire creativity and learning for those who seek to invent, research and test. Our architecture firm is dedicated to using design to improve the lives of others and help them reach their potential.

The Project

Oftentimes, colleges and universities purchase buildings and spaces, but they don’t know how to renovate them to fit their needs, so they come to us. Case Western Reserve University’s (CWRU) engineering department tasked us with taking a leftover warehouse and developing a collaborative learning environment to support a computer fabrication lab.

Conquering the Space

Faced with the leftover warehouse space, we worked with the engineering school to develop a multi-dimensional classroom space that allowed for a shift in organizational structure and teaching pedagogy. The interior and exterior design responded to the complexity of both social movement patterns, as project teams are developed and changed based on the research project at hand; as well as the functional movement of material to support these teams.

The space required a variety of meeting and organizing places, storage, intense computer and media infrastructure, and the flexibility to support changing projects and programs.

The organization of the space ultimately consisted of simple autonomous components that can be combined into various sizes and arrangements allowing individuals freedom to interact with one another to collectively solve problems. Diagrammatically, then this fluid organizational function must be accommodated by the existing interior envelope we were given. The objects (worktables, screens, and storage units) can assemble in a variety of ways, and have differing gravity or importance impact the organizational system of the room.

Want to Visit Sears think[box]?

think[box] isn’t just open to Case Western Reserve University’s engineering students, it’s open to the public so that everyone can utilize these resources and experiment and be creative.

<< Back to Higher Education Projects