Workspace Where Ideas Let Loose

With the current pace of innovation, designing for flexibility and adaptability has never been more critical. From the ever-expanding capacity of rapid prototyping equipment to increasingly networked and automated research processes, the infrastructure of research is quickly changing. It is essential that renovations, like those we made to the mezzanine at Carnegie Mellon University’s Mill 19, create spaces that can readily accommodate change.

Housed in the remains of a former steel mill, Mill 19 was conceived as an off-campus interdisciplinary hub to help forge new partnerships between public and private institutions, between students and professionals, and between researchers in different disciplines. Users of Mill 19 have access to low and high-bay project space, an additive manufacturing laboratory, a machine shop, and flexible workspaces.

Organized into three zones—ideation, testing, and workspace—the renovated Mill 19 mezzanine embraces a new model of how researchers investigate and learn by accommodating different types of work, from highly collaborative to heads-down. Different seating postures allow researchers to choose how they do their best work. The Mill 19 mezzanine is flexible enough to support the different teams of researchers and private partners who use the space day to day while being readily adaptable to yet-to-be-imagined programming, partnerships, and possibilities.

Thinking beyond the lab bench helps make experimentation more visible, encourages curiosity, and fosters cross-collaboration. Thoughtfully designed lab space does more than create an environment where researchers want to be, it helps make their research more precise through better technology, equipment, and comfort.