Sandbox ColLABorative

Southern New Hampshire University

Location: Manchester, NH

Total GSF: 5,600 GSF Renovation

Completed: 2016

Sandbox ColLABorative is Southern New Hampshire University’s place for faculty and staff from the University College, the College of Online and Continuing Education and the College for America to come together to research, develop, analyze and test best ideas. At the same time, externally, the Sandbox will be incubating new and alternative business models of higher education to anticipate what is coming next in the ever-changing academic terrain.

The over-arching goal for the project, identified by SNHU, was to create a dynamic design environment that supports both the physical and virtual pathways of “Good Ideas” by providing Cadre & Research Capacity, “Scrum” Brainstorming Areas, Technology Assistance & Work Areas and a place to make quality decisions.

The project is the result of an extensive interior renovation of an existing office suite on the 5th Floor of SNHU’s Elm Street building. The LAB is set up as a state-of-the-art physical space, incorporating a variety of collaborative work areas including White Board Caves, Work Booths, a Group Meeting Room, Pinup Areas and Chalkboard Walls. A strategic mixture of furniture typologies likewise support a wide range of investigative study, from focused individual work to social group projects in both Open Work Areas and a Kitchen Work Area. The results of these incubation endeavors culminate in the Presentation Area, an AV/IT rich room that provides large-format digital presentation technology in a tiered seating amphitheater-style space.