Campus Environments

University of hawaiʻi at MĀnoa

Campus Design Lab

Campus Environments > Office of Planning and Spatial Experience > Campus Design Lab

About

Campus Design Lab (CDL)

The Campus Design Lab (CDL) focuses on improving the built environment of the Mānoa campus in a variety of ways, with a focus on creating user-friendly spaces for the campus community, and expanding student engagement. This is done through large scale projects covering an entire building, to smaller projects that renovate individual rooms. Types of projects that the CDL utilize in pursuit of these goals include: design studies, research/user workshops, planning studies, design system, and digital screen design.

How We Operate

The Campus Design Lab is the outreach arm of the Office of Planning and Spatial Experience. The lab is a space where the university community comes together to imagine future learning, living, and working experiences specific to this campus. Special projects are staffed by students from departments across the university, giving students valuable work experience fulfilling projects for clients. Students are led by principal investigators, faculty, and design professionals, including architects, user researchers, graphic designers.

Design Process and Services

At the Campus Design Lab, we follow an iterative process that centers users throughout every phase of a project—from early research to post-occupancy evaluation. Our approach moves through six key stages: Research, Ideate, Fund, Learn, Construct, and Learn again, forming a continuous loop of improvement.

We offer tailored services depending on where a project is in its lifecycle. In the Research phase, we gather user insights and data to inform priorities. During Ideation, we help shape design concepts. In the Funding phase, we support project justification and strategy. We also test and refine concepts with users in the Learn phase before and after Construction. This ensures that every project is grounded in real needs and continues to evolve after completion.

Contact opse@hawaii.edu for preliminary project advising.

View Student Engagement Process Page

Latest Projects

Students studying and relaxing in the modern Hale Aloha Lehua lobby, featuring lime green sofas, a high-top study counter, and a bright red accent wall with "LEHUA" signage. A strip of paneling runs down the wall that has cut-outs using the UH Manoa Watermark pattern.

Aloha Towers Renovation

A wide architectural photograph of Bachman Hall at UH Mānoa during sunset. The building features a large, open-air pavilion with tall, slender columns supporting a flat roof. The sun bursts through the center of the columns, illuminating a central courtyard with tropical trees. To the left, a decorative white breeze block wall adds texture to the facade.

Bachman Hall Renovation

A group of University students collaborating on a project in a dorm mock-up. The mock-up is made of white walls with one furniture sample of the modern of the lofted bed system. Two other lofted beds have been constructed of wood in the same shape and size as the furniture sample.

Dorm Room Mock-up

Architectural rendering of the Lyon Arboretum visitor area. A single-story wood-clad building sits nestled among dense tropical trees and foliage. To the left, a modern metal trellis covers a wooden seating area where people are gathered. A low stone sign in the foreground reads "Lyon Arboretum, University of Hawaiʻi."

Harold L. Lyon Arboretum Visitor Center

An architectural rendering of the Paradise Palms Terrace at UH Mānoa, viewed from beneath a large white pavilion. The pavilion's roof is composed of solar panels, casting a geometric grid of shadows onto the paved floor and wooden picnic tables below. In the center, a wide opening leads to a sunny green lawn surrounded by tropical trees and university buildings. People are shown walking through the plaza and dining at tables.

Paradise Palms

Architectural rendering of the ROTC Center for Excellence, featuring a dark slatted facade, a cantilevered roof, and a wide outdoor social staircase where people are gathered.

ROTC Center for Excellence

View All Projects >

Latest Featured UH News

A crowd of university students gathered outdoors around a long table interacting with a campus site plan layout. Several students lean forward to examine and arrange small colorful components, while others look on.
Student voices help shape future of Legacy Path, Andrews Amphitheater

October 16, 2025

A modern student lounge interior featuring lime green sectional seating. In the background, four students chat near a large window, while another student sits on a separate green sofa to the left under a wall-mounted TV. The foreground features a bright lime green accent wall with the word "MOKIHANA" written in white lettering.
Hale Aloha Towers renovation completed

August 25, 2025

Four university students evaluate a mock student housing room setup. Bed frames, desks, and storage wardrobes flank either side of the room, while students stand in the center taking notes on a clipboard and discussing the layout.
UH Mānoa invites students to provide feedback on triple-occupancy rooms, furniture

March 25, 2025

A group of university students interacting with a 3D campus architectural model outdoors on a table. One student leans forward to examine a miniature street while another student in adjusts a physical component on the model.
UH Mānoa students drive renovation plans for outdoor living spaces

February 16, 2024

A close-up view of four students and a workshop facilitator gathered around a table looking down at large printed architectural floor plans. The facilitator gestures toward one of the diagrams.
Student residents reimagine Hale Aloha Towers common areas

January 8, 2024

An exterior view of a multi-story, circular concrete dormitory tower at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. A large, lush green tree stands to the left of the building next to an elevated walkway.
Repairs, improvements at student housing just beginning

December 5, 2023

The exterior of the Life Sciences building at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. A decorative building sign in the foreground reads "LIFE SCIENCES" in orange letters and "KAUWALAʻA" in dark text over a blue and white patterned backdrop. To the left, a paved pathway leads past shaded outdoor study tables with solar-panel canopies.
Mānoa signage featuring ancient place names wins international award

May 2, 2023

Three individuals review architectural models. A student adjusts a model of a building's interior layout while a woman next to him gestures with her hand to provide feedback. A man on the left watches while holding a coffee cup.
Faculty, staff provide input on new building design in co-creation workshops

June 6,2023

Team

Core Team (Including recent UH graduates)

Headshot of Brian Srawn, smiling in front of a bookshelf.

Brian Strawn AIA

Headshot of Hunter Wells, smiling in front of a white wall.

Hunter Wells

Headshot of Keiko Ishida, smiling in front of a white wall.

Keiko Ishida

Headshot of Kai Hoshijo, smiling in front of a palm tree.

Kai Hoshijo

Headshot of Areyn Undan, smiling in front of a temple.

Areyn Undan

Headshot of Kayla Watabu, smiling in front of a white wall.

Kayla Watabu

Student Team (Undergraduates, Graduates, and PhD)

Headshot of Magnus Villanida, smiling in front of a white wall.

Magnus Villanida

Headshot of Alaka'i Antonio , smiling in front of a tree.

Alaka’i Antonio

Headshot of Katherine Swell.

Katherine Sewell

Headshot of Bella Watts.

Bella Watts

Headshot of Mykah Uowolo.

Mykah Uowolo

Headshot of Braxton Silva.

Braxton Silva

Headshot of Jade Agpaoa.

Jade Agpaoa

Headshot of Rae Torres.

Rae Torres

Contact Us

opse@hawaii.edu