Recognizing the growing need for trained health science professionals, Hawkeye Community College sought to transform the educational landscape of its health science programs. In support of this vision, the college partnered with RDG Planning & Design and in 2021, began the work of developing a plan to consolidate disparate class labs and simulation spaces into one centralized hub. The resulting design is Grundy Hall Health Science Center, an all-encompassing hands-on experiential learning space for students.    

RDG's design for the renovated Grundy Hall Health Science Center provides the college with a new home for its health science programs. To create a multidisciplinary hub, the design unites previously separate spaces, bridging the outer rim of the campus to the interior quad and green space and transforming the college's previous disconnection into a cohesive educational landscape. A strategic 25 x 50-foot gap through the building's second floor, mirrored by an identical aperture in the roof, allows for ample natural light and serves as a physical and visual connector.    

Design for the interior spaces creates a real, hospital-like environment, including six patient rooms, and an apartment-like setting where occupational therapy and EMS students can practice working with and extracting patients. These high-tech, high-touch simulation spaces encourage students in different disciplines to collaborate and learn from one another as they engage in hands-on learning and training.   

In addition to the renovation, RDG is working with Hawkeye Community College to facilitate a comprehensive academic campus master plan.