Last spring, Construction Science students enrolled in Professor Bryan Bloom’s Design+Build course constructed a greenhouse for local nonprofit Engage Learning’s Makerspace in Oklahoma City. The Design+Build course, offered every spring, gives construction science students the opportunity to build a real-world project to serve a community partner. The course focuses on the use of progressive construction methods that allow community partners to easily replicate the project as needed.
Students begin construction on the greenhouse.
Engage Learning, the most recent Design+Build community partner, is a Norman based nonprofit organization that works to bring hands-on STEM learning projects to schools and students. One of their projects is their Makerspace next to Mark Twain Elementary School in Oklahoma City. The Engage Makerspace hosts summer camps and daily after-school activities that focus on STEM and gardening for students at Mark Twain Elementary. The Oklahoma City public school has Title 1 classification, meaning at least 40% of the students enrolled are from low-income families.
Students building the greenhouse.
The Makerspace already included raised bed organic gardens to bring hands-on biological science activities to the Mark Twain students, but the addition of a greenhouse will allow Engage to provide these learning experiences year-round. With the greenhouse, Engage will also teach community participants how to grow sustainable food in urban settings. This is especially important as food scarcity becomes a larger problem.
The partially constructed greenhouse.
The cedar and polycarbonate greenhouse was designed by Professor Ken Marold and built by the Design+Build students. Marold used digital fabrication techniques to produce steel connection prototypes for the greenhouse’s wood frame. This allowed him to simplify the tools and expertise needed to re-construct the design, so communities could recreate the greenhouse on their own.
A student with the partially constructed greenhouse.
Design+Build projects built by construction science students continue to help communities in Oklahoma thrive, just as this greenhouse will help the Mark Twain Elementary School community learn about sustainable, small-scale agriculture.
A team of Construction Science and Architecture students from the Gibbs College of Architecture made their mark on the national stage this week, earning third place out of 37 universities competing at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Student Competition, held during the International Builders' Show in Orlando, February 16-18, 2026.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has elevated Gary Armbruster, FAIA, ALEP to its prestigious College of Fellows—AIA’s highest membership honor—for his exceptional work and sustained contributions to architecture and society. Fellowship recognizes architects who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession and made a significant impact at a national level. Members elevated to this distinction carry the FAIA designation after their name.
Students from the Spring 2026 Graduate 4 Architecture Design Studio, led by Professor Amy Leveno, exhibited their work at the School of Visual Arts. The exhibition, titled Reimagining the OU School of Visual Arts, featured drawings, models, and animations developed throughout the semester's studio project. The show was hosted in The Spotlight, a creative gallery space located on the first floor of the Fred Jones Art Center, and ran from January 20–30, 2026.
