American School and University magazine awarded a Silver Citation for interior renovation to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Sakamaki Hall.
The 2016 jury found the renovations to the innovation zone, “Sensitively done. Beautiful and fun.”
- Related UH News—21st century classroom design cultivates collaboration, September 15, 2014
The classrooms feature easy-to-move, comfortable, flexible furniture that allows for multiple seating and standing options to facilitate collaboration and presentation. The walls of white boards and sliding plexiglass surfaces provide ample writing space, and the latest technologies are available for content display and sharing. The rooms are naturally lit with ample outlets and a lot of space to move around.
The citation read, in part, “conceived as a prototype to be observed, adjusted and replicated, Sakamaki Hall’s renovation demonstrates the University of Hawaiʻi’s initiative to develop 21st-century facilities across 10 campuses.”
The jury was particularly impressed with how the design incorporated the bamboo into the new space.
“To honor the original bamboo used in Sakamaki Hall, which had to be removed because of health, maintenance and functional use concerns, photos of the original bamboo were applied to the acoustical clouds in the classrooms. Bamboo plywood was used extensively throughout, and two new, more architecturally appropriate species of bamboo were introduced into the design. Window treatments using bamboo patterning reinforced the symbolic presence of bamboo.”
Previously, Sakamaki Hall and KYA Design Group were awarded the Spring 2016 Outstanding Project award by Learning By Design magazine.
