As the inaugural facility on Oregon State University’s new and long-awaited Cascades campus serving Central and Eastern Oregon residents, Tykeson Hall is a Net Zero-ready academic building established as a precedent for future growth. Deeply connected to the region’s high desert landscape and its residents’ rugged determination to innovate, the building displays an industrial nature and an intentionally minimalist design in tandem with a far-sighted commitment to resource stewardship and energy efficiency.

The design of Tykeson Hall draws upon its regional context to embrace utility as beauty. Generous glazing gives the building a sense of transparency while flooding halls and classrooms with natural light for an expansive feel and an effortless connection to the landscape. Views towards geographic landmarks allow building inhabitants to respond to the climate and maintain a constant connection to Bend’s ecosystem. Honoring the vitality of timber to the regional economy, a warm cedar palette defines transitions from exterior to interior. Inside, materials celebrate Bend’s maker ethos with furnishings crafted of locally sourced wood and custom-designed desks and study bars. Bold wall graphics and interactive branding strategies enliven the space with subtle playfulness, all attuned to OSU’s vision to make this flexible building a tight hive of activity for OSU Cascades, now and into the future.