Student-centric informal learning

The University of San Francisco Harney Science Center Innovation Hive acts as an academic stage for real-time problem-solving. A collaborative campus space open to anyone, this informal hands-on learning hub models the R&D centers students will soon lead as professionals.

Positioned at the building's entry, the Hive is open 24 hours a day inviting exploration, human connection, and a venue for real-time problem-solving. The 7,600-square-foot makerspace is equipped to accommodate a wide range of activities and collaborations. It features open presentation areas and enclosed classroom space as well as a rapid prototyping suite, materials lab, and advanced fabrication labs.

The flexible design of this adaptive reuse project provides a blueprint for future growth through a master plan that repurposes the aged, five-story Harney Science Center into a teaching and learning facility that will support the college of arts and sciences into the future. Materials and fixtures were chosen for compatibility with a future goal of WELL certification for the entire building.

Spaces in the Hive are designed to support cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship and increase the amount of contact time among faculty and student groups. Working together, students form project teams, build experiments, design code, and create products and processes – all while developing the skillsets to engage successfully with classmates in different majors with different perspectives to solve real-life challenges. Work done in the Hive centers on addressing grand challenges and advancing the three pillars of USF's Horizon Collective: climate and sustainability, health and wellbeing, and AI and technology.