University of Rhode Island College of Engineering

November 22nd, 2017

The University of Rhode Island’s College of Engineering is leasing approximately 30,000 square feet of space on a temporary basis from Schneider Electric at their West Kingston manufacturing and office facility. This arrangement provides space for the program while the new College of Engineering Facility is under construction.

The space in the north end of the Schneider Electric facility will be used for classroom, office, administration and “work space” for student project development in the electrical engineering curriculum. LLB worked with both Schneider Electric and the University to develop space plans and design for ELECOMP Capstone labs for the ELECOMP Capstone Design Program for Electrical (ELE) and Computer (COMP) engineers, offices and other support areas. One of the cornerstones of the ELECOMP Capstone Design is to pair senior-level engineering students with industry sponsors to design, build, program and test solutions to their problems. As Schneider Electric is a producer of consumer electronic power products, collaboration and knowledge sharing are seen to be additional benefits for both the College and company.

The project was completed under an aggressive, 24-week, design and construction timeline. The Schneider manufacturing facility remained occupied and fully operational during the renovation.

LLB Presents at ACUHO-i Living-Learning Conference

October 21st, 2015

LLB, along with our partners on URI’s Hillside Hall, presented Making Lasting Connections through Strategic Residential Planning: Lessons Learned from the University of Rhode Island’s Hillside Hall at the ACUHO-i Living-Learning Programs Conference last week in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Chris Ladds was joined by Jordan Gatewood from Mackey Mitchell Architects and Chip Yensen, former Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs at URI (currently with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte). Speaking to a full-house of university housing administrators, architects, and other industry professionals, the discussion focused on how the strategic planning of URI’s Hillside Hall served as a model for living-learning communities on campus and how other colleges and universities could learn from the URI model. The team discussed URI’s Residential Master Plan and strategic planning goals, planning and design of the Hillside Hall Complex as it related to site location and orientation and space allocation and layout, and how to develop a similar building program. The session was a great success in exploring the exciting opportunities and complex challenges facing the live/learn community today. Thanks to all that came out to meet our panel and participate in the discussion.