X-Studio

Photos by Marble Street Studios

X-Studio was conceived to address the community’s aspiration for students better prepared for a future workforce and for jobs that end the cycle of poverty, Explora built a STEM Education and Workforce Development Center, called X Studio, for our future science leaders, ages 13-adult. The center prepares students for STEM jobs, accelerates innovation and entrepreneurship, and generates private investment. This Center enables new learning experiences, including new science and computer labs for physics, chemistry, robotics, and coding. The program includes a Maker Space that provides engineering and fabrication opportunities,  flexible classroom space for expanded programs, a teen lounge, and an exhibit hall that showcases exhibits related to the local STEM industry.

Design Concept

The X-studio is a place of transformation. It is a transformation of the Explora program from child-focused activities to teen skill development, and it is a space of transformation for teens to develop concepts to encourage future professional STEM workforce opportunities. Our building design reflects this transformation through program and design. In plan, the transformation of the design is characterized by spaces separated as learn/make/design. The transition between these spaces is celebrated through the transparency of glass and the exposure of daylight, acknowledging the importance of the transformation. The envelope is developed with the language of the existing building but reformed as though in mid-transformation to its next step in evolution. The materials are adapted from the existing building, and the geometric shapes that make up the existing building begin to overlap, pull away from each other, and in areas wrap like a cocoon. This movement allows us to expose the color coded systems within the building, and provide opportunities to use the building itself as a tool for STEM learning.  

Client: Explora Science Museum, Albuquerque, NM

Size: 55,000 sf existing building/3,500sf renovation/8,000sf addition

Project design as Principal Architect at Studio Southwest Architects