Oregon State University Student Experience Center

The Oregon State University Student Experience Center gives OSU students and staff room to breathe. Home to 28 student programs, the Opsis Architecture-designed LEED Gold Student Experience Center has brought an essential tool for fostering a happier and more productive OSU campus.

The center, adjacent to the campus Memorial Union Building, includes a craft center in the basement, student offices on levels 1 through 3, offices on level 4, and TV and radio studios—encased in a structure that complements the elegant and historic designs of adjacent OSU buildings. The building’s student programs and services are designed to encourage students to take their learning outside the classroom and apply it through leadership and community involvement.

Knot Studio’s participation in the successful design — delivering wayfinding and placemaking programs — assured that the OSU community quickly embraced the building. Knot Studio designers chose to go beyond the traditional school colors of orange and black and incorporate a rich palette of featured colors for the wayfinding and placemaking program. Colorful wayfinding panels and bold typography spotlight the building’s core values of sustainability, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion.

An immediate success with the OSU community, staff, and students praised the Student Experience Center as a transformational force on campus—highlighting the importance of the programs it houses and the vitality of Knot Studio’s contribution to its design.