Leading With Values and Purpose

Transforming an existing philosophy building into a new, literally much more open, airy, and vibrant business school, mirrors DePauw’s strategic institutional goals. Initially built in the 1950’s, the original exterior was designed to conform to a classic collegiate style, which has been preserved and restored; the interiors and their use—housing a philosophy department—needed upgrading in keeping with a new vision for DePauw, introduced by university president Dr. Lori White. Her vision was of a business school specifically designed for a liberal arts institution, an educational program that would retain the wide-ranging intellectual curiosity so central to a liberal arts degree and would offer students the chance to develop real-world skills to support all their future interests.

We sought to transform the space to express President White’s vision. A central move was to create a light-filled double-height atrium, called the “hub space” that could be used for meetings, speaker presentations with supportive alumni, and faculty gatherings. Literally slicing through the existing two-story structure was one of the biggest moves possible given everyone’s desire to keep the exterior mostly as is, and it worked. That spirit of full transformation continues through the rest of the building, where more cellular spaces have been replaced by wood-paneled light-filled classrooms and a number of different types of spaces for all kinds of interactions. Studio Ma essentially scooped out the entire interior and replaced it, a project that required seriously skilled contracting (there were literally four layers of existing floor to contend with) and continued adaptation and rethinking. On the interiors, the team was inspired by the midwestern tradition of craft, and of using wood in particularly evocative ways. Studio Ma engaged with a small local furniture company to produce interior furnishings.