Centers & Labs
University of Hawai‘i Community Design Center (UHCDC)
The University of Hawaii Community Design Center (UHCDC) is a hybrid teaching practice that provides a platform for students, staff, faculty, and partnered professionals to collaborate on interdisciplinary applied research, planning, and design projects that serve the public interest. UHCDC partners with state, city, and county agencies and non-profit organizations to build relationships, apply research, share knowledge, and collectively envision a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient future for Hawai’i.
Environmental Research and Design Lab (ERDL)
The mission of the Environmental Research and Design Laboratory (ERDL) is to enhance students’ educational experience through extracurricular applied research in sustainable buildings at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM).
The ERDL is an interdisciplinary part of the School of Architecture and brings together students from architecture, environmental design, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and information and computer sciences to design and monitor buildings with the goal of dramatically and rapidly reducing fossil fuel use in building operation to mitigate climate change. The ERDL pursues research projects with the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance student learning in building science, address underserved communities, and focus on sub-tropical and tropical climates.
We are associated with the Coastal Sustainability Initiative in Sea Grant and the Sea Grant Center for Sustainable Buildings and Community Design.
Coastal Sustainability Initiative
Center for Sustainable Buildings and Community Design
Digital Media & Information Technology Laboratory (IT Lab)
The IT Lab is located on the second floor of the architecture building and houses the School’s IT Services. It is equipped with computer workstations, scanners, large-scale plotters, servers, a duplicating machine, and other highly advanced technology. The IT Lab’s director continuously monitors and upgrades the digital and audiovisual infrastructure of the school, including classrooms projection equipment, smart boards, faculty computers, school servers, and software. Well-trained and knowledgeable student assistants are also available to assist students and faculty members.
The Haigo and Irene Shen Architecture Gallery
Haigo T.H. Shen, Hon FAIA, was the principal of Haigo Shen & Partners (HSP), one of the largest and leading architectural firms in Taiwan. In 1997, he was honored as one of six Most Outstanding Architects by the Republic of China. A graduate in architectural engineering from St. John’s University in Shanghai, Mr. Shen also received the distinction of being elected as a Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in the year 2000. For more than 40 years, Mr. Shen was at the forefront of his profession, influencing architecture through his landmark projects that span Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Guam, Thailand, and Hawai‘i. Mr. Shen was an adjunct professor at the University of Hawai‘i School of Architecture. He served as a board member and vice president of the Asia-Pacific Center for Architecture, a nonprofit organization, the purpose of which was to further the understanding of Asia-Pacific architecture. Mr. Shen was an active alumnus of the East-West Center, serving as co-chair of the Board of Directors of the East-West Center Foundation. He received the School’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2002.
He and his wife, Irene, endowed the Haigo & Irene Shen Architecture Gallery. This endowment supports the goals of the University of Hawai‘i School of Architecture to provide high-quality education as the primary center for the study of architecture and to extend its outreach to the community. The Haigo and Irene Shen Architecture Gallery provides opportunities to exhibit and showcase the works of faculty, students, and community, and to enrich the advancement and study of architecture.
Instagram: uhsoashengallery
3D Fabrication Lab
Architecture students have the opportunity to gain hands-on learning by building scale models of their designs, experimenting with various materials and methods of construction, as well as increasing their knowledge and understanding of structure, construction, building systems, and design.
Located on the ground floor of the School’s facility, the 3D Fabrication Lab includes tools ranging from traditional hand tools to digital production. With this range of equipment, students are able to design and build studio assignments, architectural models, community design competitions, gallery exhibitions, furniture, experimental mechanisms, and more. Students work under the supervision of the 3D Fabrication Lab Director and well-trained knowledgeable student assistants to ensure personal and environmental health and safety.
There is a variety of material available at the 3D Fab Lab, including: jointer; planer; miter saw; variety of table saws, sanders, band saws, presses; workbenches; joining and sharpening systems; polisher; sheet metal machine; welder; wide range of hand tools and hand-held power tools; multiple laser cutters; router and resin printer.
Instagram: UH3DFABLAB
The John and Maria Lynn
Architecture Reading Room
Located on the third floor of the School of Architecture building, the John and Maria Lynn Reading Room enhances the School’s commitment to developing literacy and advancing scholarship in the field of architecture.
The Reading Room was made possible by the generous gift of Taiwanese architect and educator Professor John Lynn and his wife. Professor Lynn worked in private practice in Taiwan and served on the Board of the Asia Pacific Center for Architecture.
The Reading Room holds a broad selection of basic architectural texts and periodicals, most donated by active and former faculty. It houses a near complete collection of The Architectural Record as well as dissertations completed by graduates of the School’s Doctor of Architecture program. These resources are especially useful to students in core classes and for graduate students conducting research.
