Kent State's Cleveland Urban Design
Collaborative, a component of the College
of Architecture and Environmental Design,
was presented with an American Institute
of Architects Ohio Design Award for the
interior design of its new space in
downtown Cleveland.

Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, a component of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, was presented with an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Ohio Design Award on Sept. 15, for the interior design of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative’s new space, located in the PlayhouseSquare district of downtown Cleveland.

Christopher Diehl , former director of Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, and Cleveland-based architecture firm Westlake Reed Leskosky, collaborated on the design and engineering of the facility, which is located on the upper floor of the historic Cowell and Hubbard Building on Euclid Avenue. The renovated space houses studios, gallery space, classrooms, conference rooms and the offices for the staff and faculty of Kent State’s Urban Design Collaborative.

“Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative has distinguished itself through the design of many neighborhoods, city development concepts and urban research, all of which have benefitted an incalculable number of citizens in Northeast Ohio,” says Douglas L. Steidl, dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design. “It is now fitting that the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, which provides design quality to the community, is housed in a facility recognized with a design award.”

The AIA Ohio Design Awards program honors Ohio architects and their clients who have distinguished themselves through their work in architecture and design. The juried awards are based on several criteria including quality design, sustainability, aesthetics and functional and contextual design elements.

“We are thrilled that the design of our offices and studio are housed in spaces recognized to be outstanding through the competitive, peer-reviewed process of the American Institute of Architects,” Steidl says. “It is doubly rewarding to be the client and at the same time note that the designer of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative facility, Christopher Diehl, served as a Kent State College of Architecture and Environmental Design faculty member at the time of the endeavor.”

Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative is the combined home of the urban design graduate program at Kent State and the public service activities of the university’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design. It is committed to improving the quality of urban spaces through design assistance, research and advocacy. Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative offers urban design expertise to communities, non-profit organizations and academic partners throughout Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.