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I’m happy to report that everything is proceeding on schedule. Audio visual equipment is coming in the next 2 weeks, and we’re looking solid to install furniture at the end of this month and computers in August.

In the meantime, the networking continues, inspections are happening, and we’ve got one small but important upgrade to report.

Ye olde wood-grained window air conditioner with wall timer.

Out of head range, and modern looking!

Also, 308 is looking pretty finished. The blue paint pops, and the floor is sealed down properly.

Sharp corners

Love this color!

A lot of things have been going on with the construction project, but not a lot of it is very visible. The network wiring is being put in, and electrical wiring.

But excitingly, when I walked by yesterday, I noticed a new look. The flooring is currently being installed, and it really does make the room look a lot more like something useable.

No, that’s not really hardwood, it’s just lineoleum that looks like it. Looks nice nonetheless!

Last week, the electricians were installing new wiring, and new lights, and this week, the painters are hard at work, so progress is becoming visible.

Last week, our ceiling looked like this:

And today we have newly installed overhead lighting:

A clear upgrade over our former pendant lighting:

And now the rooms are truly starting to look finished.  We decided to do accent walls which will match our chair colors in each room, with the remainder of the walls a soft grey. Additionally, we wanted to retain the existing white tile, and the contractors have cleaned up the grout and made that more polished looking. So here’s the painting in progress:

In 308:

And in 312:

Quite a few upgrades that aren’t visible to the naked eye are going on as well. Our own Joe Nichols has been working with others in ASCTech to get the computers in our other rooms ready to go for summer term, and to make sure the wired networking upgrades are running as desired.  Also, the wireless capacity on the 3rd floor has been beefed up (and other floors are coming soon!) And I (Amy) have been working on plans to get 316 upgraded during Autumn semester, turning it into something less like our traditional computer classrooms and more like a technology rich seminar space.

In just a week and a half we’ve gone from this:

The accordion wall

to this:

Drywall!

In between was a whole lot of this:

Rubble

Well, two of them at least.

Summertime should be renamed construction-time at OSU, and this year, the Digital Media Project is getting into the mix. We’ve been working hard over the past 8 months to nail down plans on what Denney 308 and 312 will look like with an update. Computers and furniture are already either here or quickly on their way, but we’ve finally reached a big milestone: the start of demolition on the physical space.

So here are a few before shots:

Entering 312

The front of 312

Looking from 312 to 308, with the accordion wall open

Vintage eco-friendliness

Construction officially began on Monday, May 5, ironically enough with a bit of demolition in the space. The accordion walls between 308 and 312 and 312 and 316 were removed, as was the wallpaper, wiring housings, ceiling tiles, and the vintage air conditioning units.

Ye olde wood-grained window air conditioner with wall timer.

On Thursday and Friday, asbestos abatement for the floor tiles took place.  We were lucky in that unlike other spaces in Denney Hall, our ceilings didn’t contain asbestos, but some of the glue in existing floor tiles did.

The black and darker beige tiles are the culprits.

Not looking for E.T.

And in our second week, we saw real walls erected to once again divide the space into 3 classrooms.

Right now electrical work is also taking place to reroute outlets and network drops to where they’ll be most available to computers in our new furniture layout.

Next up we’ll start to see the rooms come together even more with lighting updates, flooring and more.

The DMP has long managed to provide technological services on a shoestring budget. Unfortunately, that budget was becoming very apparent as our classroom facilities began to look more and more dated.  So when a bit of funding became available, we jumped at the chance to update our classrooms, and embarked on a multi-year process to rehab all five spaces.

We spent Winter Break surplussing computers and throwing out furniture — which was so old and broken surplus didn’t even want it!

The updated spaces were planned with flexibility in mind. We’ll still offer 25 computer stations in most of our classrooms, and we’ll be updating what kinds of technology is installed. For instance, flat panel TVs have come down in price enough that they are now the economical choice over traditional digital projectors.

Since the spaces were never large enough to make use of the accordion walls and opening them up, we’re replacing them with real walls. This will reduce sound bleed between the rooms. (And sadly, when we opened up the accordions, we noted that once upon a time, there were real walls there.)

Our ancient metal blinds will be replaced by light-blocking shades, to avoid glare on projected images and white boards.

And perhaps most excitingly, we’re able to purchase furniture which has actually been designed for our purposes.  Gone are the days of scavenging when other departments cast off their hand-me-downs. We’ll have durable (and colorful!) chairs on wheels, tables with gutters so that power and network cables can be tucked out of site, and adjustable height teacher stations. And since the desktop footprint of computers has reduced so much in recent years (especially since we are equipping the rooms with iMacs, which have the CPU and monitor in one piece), we are able to install much smaller desks. They still provide ample desktop space for working, but allow us much more space to move around in the rooms, increasing accessibility.

Without further adieu, the plans:

Furniture layouts for 308

Furniture Layout for 312

In both rooms you’ll see both the computer stations, and some conferencing or group meeting space. 312 is large enough that we have some actual conference tables, whereas in 308, we make the most of the small space with wheeled chairs with a desk surface attached.