Missouri Innovation Campus

The design of the Missouri Innovation Campus complements an innovative accelerated degree program by simulating real world experiences, enabling students to develop competencies for success in the professional environment.

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We developed this “campus in a building” in partnership with the University of Central Missouri, Lee’s Summit School District, and local industry participants to flexibly serve the needs of the 21st century student, fostering skills for the jobs of the future.

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Students in the program begin accruing college credit while still in high school, allowing them to graduate from UCM in two years, debt-free, with job-ready skills. The building serves as a “base camp” for these tightly-knit cohorts of students. The space is organized in quadrants, each serving an academic department. Circulation space is reimagined as “Ideation Commons” to link departments, support project collaboration, and give students a place to call home.

Two core tenets of the design are flexibility and modularity, to easily adapt as the local job market changes and new programs are implemented, supporting the long-range sustainability of the facility. The flexibility also enables shared use between the high school and university at different times of day.

The result is a dynamic environment more reminiscent of the modern workplace than school, supporting the cross-disciplinary collaborative skills essential to professional growth, while providing a palette of space options for each learner.

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