Colorado State University- Pueblo’s Psychology Building, through a $16.8 million state-funded renovation, is being redesigned to be a center for interdisciplinary collaboration between the various departments and programs focused on Health Sciences, Nursing, the Humanities, Social Sciences, Technology, and Data Sciences. The building, to be renamed the Center for Integrated Health & Humanities (CIHH), will house state-of-the-art simulation labs for Nursing, distance learning classrooms, and will support students’ needs for collaborative spaces.

The CIHH building will emphasize modern classrooms that are small in size, reflecting the current practice of personal attention to students. The building will also support the needs of Student Health Services and Counseling Center, with careful attention paid to sound-proofing the renovated building to mitigate the privacy concerns of students utilizing the counseling services. Some key goals for the function of the building include flexible, mixed-use spaces; a new entry on the main level and on the Campus’ central Paseo; the opportunity for collaboration between programs; a design that allows for an innovative approach to student learning; and incorporating state-of-the-art technology.

In addition to the Nursing simulation labs, Health services and Counseling Center, and general classrooms, the renovated building will have space for multiple academic departments, Psychology laboratory space, offices, and the Language Center, which serves as a campus gathering space. The renovated design was structured around created a meandering path through the building, to allow for a flow of movement that best reflected the student’s experience with the programs and services provided within. The architect was inspired by the concept of erosion in its design process, as the Arkansas River is of central importance to the Pueblo community. Every student at CSU-Pueblo is impacted and will flow through the CIHH building. The building’s design utilizes materials that embrace layers and the passage of time, such as exposed infrastructure on the ceiling, lots of glass, and materials that show their construction, such as showing the grain of wood or de-constructed carpet. The renovation will increase the sunlight entering the building with additional windows and there will be elements of biophilia throughout, including greenery. Wayfinding will be accomplished through colored hallways. Based on interest and feedback from building users, the architect also incorporated an exterior labyrinth design into the concrete on the plaza of the building.

The Art Selection committee is looking to commission artwork for the interior of the Center for Integrated Health & Humanities. The committee is interested in an artwork or artworks that activate the lobby area on the main floor and then journey through the building, up the main stairwell to the lobby space of the second floor. The artwork can be ceiling or wall-mounted, as there is no space for free-standing, sculptural work. The second floor lobby will be the livelier and more collaborative-focused public area of the two lobbies. There is also a long wall near the north side window on the 2^nd floor, near a coffee and meeting area,that is a possible location for artwork.

 

The Selection Committee would like the artwork to take into account the University’s 2028 vision of framing CSU-Pueblo as the “Gateway to the Southwest” and “the People’s University” for the region, as well as the school’s role as a Hispanic Serving Institution. The Committee would like the artwork to have a connection to the building's design focus on circular or meandering pathways to learning, as well as the thematic focus of erosion/flow and the labyrinth.

 

Artists from the Southwest region are encouraged to apply.