R2i2: Institute of Innovation

R2i2 INSTITUTE OF

INNOVATION

DESTINATION:

INNOVATION A hundred years ago, most graduates seeking employment could rely on a dependable set of skills: reading, writing, and arithmetic. Specialized training was necessary for some professions, to be sure, but even in those fields the required body of knowledge wasn’t likely to change much over time.

Fast-forward to our age of “disruptive technologies,” when a new idea can quickly change an entire industry.

Graduates with a finite skill set will be limited within this new economy, while those who can evolve and adapt will thrive. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are a great foundation, but what else should be in our students’ tool kits? The ability to collaborate, think critically, solve complex problems, synthesize multifaceted information, and innovate are hallmarks of today’s learners. Those who master these skills will be the leaders of the future.

DESIGNING THE

FUTURE

Committed to developing “global citizens of tomorrow,” Richland School District Two in Columbia, SC, had a bold vision for a leading-edge facility dedicated to fostering these 21st Century skills in its students.

The District wanted to build a “fishbowl of learning,” an inspiring facility to attract students, faculty, and administrators and provide district-wide educational opportunities. This learning hub would support a variety of diverse functions, welcoming multigenerational stakeholders across the Sandhills community. Connectivity, flexibility, and sustainability would be paramount; unique functions from district administration to project-based learning would work together seamlessly.

This was a tall order.

TALL

ORDER

CONFERENCE COMMUNITY-WIDE

RESOURCE

Undaunted by the scope of the undertaking and inspired by the opportunities, the District partnered with Richland County Library to create a facility that is the first of its kind in the nation: The Richland Two Institute of Innovation, better known as R2i2.

This 215,000 SF joint-use building is a communitywide resource hosting project-based learning labs and STEM studies for local students, administrative offices for the school district, a branch library, and a spacious conference center. Shared meeting spaces and public areas encourage overlap among programs, and the transparency embedded in the design puts learning on full display.

SANDHILLS

CENTER

DISTRICT OFFICE LIBRARY

The District tapped the design/build team of LS3P and MB Kahn, who rose to the exciting challenge presented by R2i2’s one-of-a-kind nature. The team worked with diverse stakeholders across numerous public meetings and forums to develop a space for this innovative vision.

MAXIMUM

OVERLAP

To encourage connectivity and “creative collisions,” all programs are organized around open collaboration areas. The main entry opens to a large central spine that serves as a community resource space. With a 36’ high “dividing wall” culminating in a continuous clerestory, the spine is flooded with natural light.

Though the wall serves as an implied separation between public areas and more secure program functions, all spaces are visually connected by virtue of various openings and framed views.

The wall also helps define spaces for high levels of activity and quiet learning. The spine starts at an expansive entry lobby which acts as a unifying element for all programs. Computer touch-down stations, seating areas for informal gatherings, and a variety of meeting areas integrated throughout make the spine an active learning and collaboration space.

You have all the reason in the world to your grandest Imagination plus innovation equals - Denis Waitley

CENTRAL

MAKER SPACE The heartbeat of the building is the Student Innovation Center which draws students from all five of the District’s high schools. This dynamic high-bay wing features open learning spaces, classrooms with roll-up garage doors, collaboration areas, an “incubator” space, and outdoor project areas. The incubator space allows students to interface with business partners and discuss ways to overcome challenges and create products.

Utilizing state-of-the-art equipment such as 3D printers, students learn in ways that develop creative problem solving, teamwork, and analytical skills. The roll-up doors offer flexibility for ever-changing student projects. Polished concrete floors and an overhead electrical bus system create an ideal flexible “maker space” environment, and a tiered studio which opens to the project area hosts lectures and other largegroup events. A variety of meeting rooms support individual learning and collaboration for groups of all sizes, while the incubator space serves as a “think tank” where students can solve real-world problems.

LIFELONG

LEARNING

Off the central spine, the District’s light-filled administration wing houses three floors of open and private offices, collaboration areas, and meeting rooms.

On the second floor, a conference center provides a much-needed training space for teacher professional development, accommodating up to 750 people seated or 1,500 for a reception. This room is easily divided, and is so popular for community meetings that it now generates rental income for the District.

Conference center events engage students in learning opportunities from logistics to hospitality skills. A culinary lab kitchen gives students real-world experience in a restaurant kitchen setting, and students help cater events and serve patrons in the onsite café.

At the facility’s main entrance, a 30,000 SF Richland County branch library welcomes the community to R2i2. A two-story adult and teen area occupy half of the first and second levels, while a more secure children’s area with a special story space and outdoor reading patio resides on the ground floor. Flexible furniture and shelving support diverse library activities. A shared 295-seat lecture hall/auditorium on the second floor is available for library, District, and community use.

R2i2’s interiors reflect its modern-industrial and technology emphasis, but the school’s innovative educational nature is evident even from the exterior.

The high-tech façade of curtain wall, colored metal panels, and stone accent walls indicate the contemporary nature of the programs inside.

TOWARDS A

GREENER FUTURE Sustainable design was a key District goal for R2i2, and the team used a holistic approach to deliver a Green Globes Certified project with a 936-panel rooftop solar array, shading devices, a solar tree and wind generator, an underground cistern, and a solar hot water thermal system. Additionally, the project includes a stand-alone “Next Energy Lab” with a solar farm. Sustainable technologies integrated into the learning environment emphasize “next generation” energy sources and display live energy use data. To help with the educational programming, the design team collaborated with teachers and “Energy Bee,” a sustainability curriculum consultant, to provide students the opportunity to achieve a solar certification.

Despite the size and complexity of the project, close coordination among all team members allowed for an accelerated design and construction schedule.

Even with major addition of the rooftop solar array and student energy lab, the process was so efficient that the owner was able to move into the administrative and classroom areas five months ahead of the original schedule, and into the professional development area three months early.

GREEN

GLOBES

Throughout the planning of R2i2, we had great hopes that this new facility would be a spark for innovation, learning and growth in the Northeast Community.

Innovative learning is already taking place in the student learning and innovation center at R2i2. Students have created their first prosthetic hand in partnership with a company called Enable in the Computer Aided Design Class. Students in the Next Energy Engineering class are collaborating with students from Senegal to develop solar energy technology for their school in Africa. If that and more can happen in the only first four months after opening, we have a lot to look forward to at R2i2.

-Dr. Debbie Hamm, Previous Richland Two Superintendent

UP AND

RUNNING How is R2i2 working, heading into its second year?

The programs are immensely popular. Proposed fall classes include Next Energy and Fuel Cell Engineering, Apple Application Development, Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Global Logistics Management, Managerial Accounting and Finance, Marketing and Social Media, Mobile and Non-Traditional Food and Service, and a host of other engaging programs which give soon-to-be graduates a boost over the competition.

Students are taking advantage of these unique opportunities, and R2i2 is already a catalyst for innovation. Students in the 3-D printing class applied their newfound knowledge to develop a prosthetic hand for a child, and R2i2 is the first high school program to teach a class in Apple Application Development. (The class was a success, as it boasts the first student to score 100% in this highly technical computer programming course.)

Though economic opportunities are evolving almost as rapidly as today’s technology, R2i2 is preparing students and the community to thrive in careers which will require critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability. Journalist Thomas Friedman writes, “Do you know what my favorite renewable fuel is? An ecosystem for innovation.”

R2i2 has become just that, and its potential to generate far-reaching positive impacts is boundless.

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