Understanding what drives the need for change
UC Merced faced a pivotal moment in its campus evolution. As the university prepared for significant growth, they needed to expand beyond their original academic core while preserving the intimate, connected campus culture that defined their identity. The challenge was complex: how do you integrate new buildings, open spaces, and recreational facilities across natural barriers like the Fairfield Canal without losing the campus's sense of unity and compactness?
The university envisioned something more ambitious than traditional campus expansion. They wanted to create spaces that would fundamentally reshape how students experience college life, breaking down the artificial barriers between living and learning. Their goal was to design an environment where academic pursuits, residential life, recreation, and wellness would flow together naturally, supporting the whole student rather than compartmentalizing their college experience into separate zones.
How we brought the vision to life
Tangram Interiors approached this campus transformation as an exercise in thoughtful connectivity. Rather than simply adding buildings, we designed an integrated extension that would weave new facilities seamlessly into the existing campus fabric. Our strategy centered on extending the academic core south across Fairfield Canal, then creating mixed-use Live-Learn clusters that follow the natural contours of Little Lake's southern edge.
The design partnership focused on using the campus's natural features as organizing principles. Little Lake became more than a scenic backdrop – it transformed into an activated central gathering space framed by purposeful mixed-use buildings. On the western edge, we positioned a new Athletic, Recreational and Wellness precinct to create natural flow with existing student housing. Every design decision was made with student interaction in mind, creating diverse spaces where faculty, students, staff, and community members would naturally cross paths and engage with one another.
1 solutions
Brody Desk + Lounge
Brody Desk is a high-performing private workstation designed specifically for the in-between spaces in corporate and education environments. As dedicated spaces for resident workers in open-plan offices, touchdown spaces outside in-demand project rooms or study carrels in busy student commons areas – Brody Desk provides people with moments of focus in high-traffic settings.
2 professionals brought this vision to life
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