CAB Redesign

From these goals arose the creation of the CAB predesign committee, which began the process of shaping the remodeling process. The predesign committee consists of several members of administration, a faculty member, nine students, and the architectural firm of Perkins and Will which was commissioned for this project. This group began meeting in January of 2006 and has held several design charettes both within itself and the architects and with the student body at large. In addition, a series of two surveys were distributed to the student body by this group to help determine what students wanted to see. The compiled results of these surveys are presented here:

www.evergreen.edu/facilities/cabpredesign/SummaryofCABSurvey1.pdf

The surveys allowed us to get a wide range of responses but were less effective at allowing students to articulate their ideas and collaborate with one another. To address the problem, it was decided that we would hold two design charettes with the students. the first was held on February 23rd, the same day as our meeting with the architects as the pre-design committee. The event was advertised on the kiosk, on KAOS radio, on flyers throughout the school, and word of mouth to the best of our ability. When the allotted time came we about a dozen students on the second floor of the cab by the window and the open ears of the architects. The session was designed to be a basic back and forth dialogue between the students and architects. A representative from Perkins and Will elicited responses from the students about their ideas and recorded them on newsprint. This format allowed the architect to ask for clarifications directly from those asking questions. The session lasted for an hour and gave them plenty to work with. Themes that emerged from the discussion included more lounge spaces combined with better foodservice areas, quiet meditation or study space, space for a wider variety of vendors, and gallery space as well as a performance space.

In addition, a session was held that day with members of student activities. Representatives from the Bike Shop, the Cooper Point Journal, KAOS, EPIC, the Evergleaners, and SOFA were in attendance. Needs relating to specific user groups were addressed as well as generalized student activity upgrades. Moving the Bike Shop to the first or second floor was discussed. The Cooper Point Journal requested more space. All groups located in the primary student activities area on the third floor indicated that more space was essential for their continued growth. New design options for potential workstation layouts were discussed.

On March 1^st,  a separate series of design charettes were held regarding the redesign of the CAB building at Evergreen. In addition to meetings held with the pre-design committee, which includes the architectural firm of Perkins and Will, faculty, administration, and students, there was an open forum held by students for students to find out their ideas for the building. Five of the student members of the pre-design team put on this workshop to broaden the student voice and input received by the architects. The event was publicized to encourage participation and was attended by fifteen to twenty students. After an introductory session, the process of eliciting responses from the student body about their interests began. Several students from an art class were in attendance and expressed a strong desire for more space, both formal and informal, to display their work. There was a feeling from the student body as a whole that there needed to be more comfortable, informal lounge space, perhaps in combination with food service options. Some students desired more space and facilities for student activities and events. Others wished to have a kitchen available for a self operated food service in the CAB building. An infoshop featuring literature and information that would be student run was also a strongly supported element. Once a base of ideas to start from had been established the students were divided into groups according to their interests. In this workshop we had three groups- food service, art and performance space, and student activities. Once these groups were established they began to further develop their ideas about the specific features they would like to see, recording the results on sheets of newsprint. In this intimate setting they were better able to converse and work collaboratively to make their voice heard.