YouthBuild Construction Lab

Crafting an educational space and system for a Cincinnati Non-profit.

Team
Sarah Payne
Corie Flood
MaryCate McIntyre

Role
User Research
Spatial Planning
Industrial Design

THE PROBLEM

Insufficient Educational Space

YouthBuild is a branch of a larger non-profit organization Easterseals, that offers training in construction for local young adults facing disadvantages.
Their current education space is cluttered, unorganized and uninspiring, affecting efficiency of the operation and low engagement levels from students.

THE CHALLENGE

How might we create a more efficient and effective educational experience to benefit the YouthBuild program?

Potential Impact

STAKEHOLDERS

Meeting Our Stakeholders

Throughout the design process we worked closely with the team and students at YouthBuild to gain insight on the program needs and feedback on our design solutions.

RYAN: EDUCATOR

FEARGHAL: GRANTS

RYAN: STUDENT

DEBBIE: VP

JUSTICE: STUDENT

MAURICE: STUDENT

OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH & INTERVIEWS

Discovering the Classroom Space

The YouthBuild space is currently cluttered an unorganized. It’s made up of hand-me-down furniture and materials from the larger Easterseals organization.

  • Lumber and materials are cluttered

  • Tools are unorganized and have been stolen in the past

  • Needs versatility for varied lesson plans from handtool practice to forklift training

  • Students want to learn framing, but it doesn’t always fit into the lesson plan

HANDTOOL WORKSHOP & STORAGE

  • Small white board and projector is hard for students to see

  • Surrounding classroom space is cluttered and distracting

  • Teacher’s office is on the other side of the building

  • Students struggle with the mathematics portion of the curriculum like angles and fractions

CLASSROOM SPACE

  • Cluttered space can be a saftey hazard

  • No clear walkway for students to move around

  • Angles and large ruler artwork to help reinforce math education

  • Needs better tool storage

  • Students occasionally are sent home for forgetting to bring PPE (protective hats, boots, glasses etc.)

POWERTOOL WORKSHOP

Project Roadmap

INSIGHTS

Design Goals

FLOORPLAN

Improving Layout & Workflow

Final Floorplan

MOODBOARD

Defining the Look & Feel of the Space

3 Part Furniture & Storage Solution

FURNITURE DESIGN

3 Key Components

Workbench & Pegboard

We worked through the development of the workbench and pegboard in CAD to determine how the portable pegboards would best attach to the workbench and larger pegboard, before building our prototypes.

SUPPORTING GRAPHICS

Educational Posters

To bring personality and ownership to the space, we created these educational posters for the walls. These will help students remember tool names and retain quick math skills like fraction conversions.

Framing Booklet

Wall framing isn’t consistently part of the Youthbuild’s cirriculum even though it’s an important carpentry skill. We designed this booklet to support Youthbuild in adding this to their program and assist students in learning framing fundamentals in their own time.

SPATIAL DESIGN & LAYOUT

Additional Spaces

Keeping the floorplan in mind, we thought through the best way to utilize every area throughout Youthbuild’s space including: personal storage spaces, classroom style learning zones, hand tool and powertool workshops and even a space to relax.