This week, the 2026 SCUP North Central conference, held at Ohio State University, gathers leaders in higher education and design to discuss the future of regional college and university facilities and explore how the built environment can support student success. This year’s theme, Community: Rooted in Place, Powered by People, highlights how integrated planning can create places with purpose — “campuses that invite connection, encourage dialogue, and foster a sense of belonging.” Across two days of sessions and tours, project teams will share varied approaches for transforming aging campus infrastructure into spaces that respond to changing enrollment, new technology, and the need for flexible educational space.

The recently completed Engineering and Innovation Center (EIC) at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) embodies this vision. In the session “Antiquated to Innovative: Upcycling Campus Facilities for Strategic Growth,” Kristi Peiffer, M. Arch. (Director of Campus Construction, BGSU), Jon Szczesniak, RA, (Associate, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson), and Michael Muse, AIA, (Principal, The Collaborative) will discuss the planning and design strategies that shaped the transformation of a 60,000 square-foot 1970s manufacturing building through a comprehensive study, strategic adaptive reuse process, and addition of 24,000 square feet of educational and gathering space. Since opening, the EIC has strengthened a growing “innovation corridor” on campus and provided flexible space for advanced manufacturing and robotics. From initial facilities assessments to designing for cross-collaboration within manufacturing environments, attendees will learn how to apply integrated approaches by upcycling older campus buildings and creating adaptive state-of-the-art facilities.

Learn more about the session and conference below: