Dirtworks Studio's Nunemaker Center renovation design-build project honored

LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design studio has been internationally recognized for its work on Nunemaker classrooms.   

The spring 2019 design-build studio received an Honorable Mention in the Architectural Design/Educational Buildings category from The Architecture Masterprize. Designs across the globe were picked for 42 award categories.  

The class also added new technology to make the spaces as functional and educationally effective as possible.  One of the main goals of the project was to connect the two classrooms to the pre-existing atrium. While maintaining the radial symmetry and order of the existing Nunemaker space, the studio expanded these areas and designed glass paneling and cutouts to open and connect the two classrooms. Students also added wood wraparounds to add character and visually connect the spaces. The third-year students, led by Chad Kraus, associate professor of architecture, created designs that drew on natural lighting and materials to transform the two “uninspired classrooms” for the University Honors Program, according to the award announcement.  

Architecture MasterPrize winners were honored Oct. 14 at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. This is the third year in a row the Dirt Works Studio has been awarded an Architecture MasterPrize — notably, all for projects that enhanced campus spaces for KU students. The studio’s Makerstudio renovation in Marvin Hall won in 2018, and its Chalmers Hall renovation won the Interior Design award in the Commercial Interior category in 2017.    

More information about Dirt Works Studio is available at dirtworksstudio.ku.edu.  

Students involved in the Nunemaker Center project were Matthew Bellomy, Trabuco Canyon, California; James Beyer, Gridley; Tyler Campbell, Bonner Springs; Ben Daneman, Dallas;  Sydney Edmonds, Prairie Village; Jacqueline Fox, Topeka; Hana Ghosheh, Lenexa; Trevor Hughes, Lawrence; Brandon Huynh, Salina; Jean-Marc Juston, St. Joseph, France; Ryan Krigbaum, Palmyra, Missouri; Alex Pyatt, St. Joseph, Missouri; Annie Ringhofer, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Jiabao Shang, Haidian District, China; Brent Sontag, Wichita; Owen Starkey, Mill Valley, California; Megan Strayer, Kimberling City, Missouri; Zara Strayer, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Danielle Voelkerding, Washington, Missouri.