Missouri Innovation Campus
A flexible "campus in a building" fosters accelerated learning that provides job‑ready skills.
The design of the Missouri Innovation Campus complements an innovative accelerated degree program by simulating real world experiences, enabling students to develop competencies for success in the professional environment. We developed this “campus in a building” in partnership with the University of Central Missouri, Lee’s Summit School District, and local industry participants to flexibly serve the needs of the 21st century student, fostering skills for the jobs of the future.
Students in the program begin accruing college credit while still in high school, allowing them to graduate from UCM in two years, debt-free, with job-ready skills. The building serves as a “base camp” for these tightly-knit cohorts of students. The space is organized in quadrants, each serving an academic department. Circulation space is reimagined as “Ideation Commons” to link departments, support project collaboration, and give students a place to call home.
Two core tenets of the design are flexibility and modularity, to easily adapt as the local job market changes and new programs are implemented, supporting the long-range sustainability of the facility. The flexibility also enables shared use between the high school and university at different times of day.
The result is a dynamic environment more reminiscent of the modern workplace than school, supporting the cross-disciplinary collaborative skills essential to professional growth, while providing a palette of space options for each learner.
I want the entire country to notice the innovation happening here [at Missouri Innovation Campus], and I want other colleges to take a look at what's being done here as well.President Barack Obama 44th President of the United States
-
Location
Lee's Summit, MO
-
Size
147,000 sq.ft.
-
The Chicago Athenaeum
American Architecture Award
-
SCUP/AIA‑CAE
Excellence in Architecture Award – Special Citation
-
IIDA
Gold Design Award
-
A4LE
Design Concept Award
-
Learning By Design Magazine
Grand Prize Award
-
Architect of Record
DLR Group
-
General Contractor
McCown Gordon Construction
-
Photographer
Michael Robinson
