Three people sit on bleacher stairs. From left to right: Monica Reed, Project Manager, Pennsylvania State University; Erin Carlisle, Principal, STUDIOS Architecture; and Scott Myrick, Director of Operations, Bellisario Media Center at Penn State University

STUDIOS principal Erin Carlisle presented at the SCUP Mid-Atlantic 2025 Regional Conference along with two Penn State team members, Monica Reed and Scott Myrick. Their session, entitled "Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce with Future-Proof Educational Space Design: Penn State’s Media Innovation Hub," was a focused look at the PSU Bellisario College of Communications.

Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce with Future-Proof Educational Space Design: Penn State’s Media Innovation Hub

STUDIOS transformed the existing Willard Building into a state-of-the-art education facility for media and communications students and faculty at Pennsylvania State University. The Bellisario College of Communications is a nationally-regarded point of pride for the Pennsylvania State University. Photo: © Bruce Damonte

At the 2025 SCUP Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, STUDIOS joined academic leaders and planners to share lessons from our transformative collaboration with Penn State’s Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. Erin Carlisle of STUDIOS led a session alongside Penn State University’s Monica Reed, Office of the Physical Plant, and Scott Myrick, Director of Media Center Operations, entitled “Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce with Future-Proof Educational Space Design.” The session detailed how integrated planning, industry-informed insight, and flexible design can shape learning environments that prepare students for real-world impact.

Empowering Students by Teaching Them How to Do
From the start, Dean Marie Hardin had a clear vision for the project to create an open, collaborative, and entrepreneurial environment. The aim wasn't just to teach theory, but to immerse students in practice—led by faculty and staff with direct industry experience. This real-world lens shaped the approach to the project, drawing insights from peer institutions, workplace case studies, and leveraging STUDIOS’ robust media experience for clients such as Bloomberg, Politico, and Time Inc. Together, we delivered a media center that empowers students to explore new forms of storytelling shaped by innovative approaches to teaching.

From Office Park to Campus Anchor
The project relocated the College’s fragmented off-campus facilities into a vibrant, purpose-built media center at the heart of campus housed within the historic 1949 Willard Building. The existing building had been an informal campus cut-through; its new design capitalizes on that foot traffic with pockets of space for visitors to linger and to see what’s happening. The new building houses dedicated production suites for film, radio, and podcasting; media research resources; and a host of co-curricular programs, all connected through shared infrastructure and a centralized tech backbone.

Spaces are intentionally flexible, supporting classes by day, clubs by night, and media production at all hours. Embedded infrastructure—including fiber optics and distributed AV systems—was designed to support evolving technologies and media formats for decades to come.

Reimagining Interdisciplinary & Industry Connection
Glass-walled studios adjacent to areas dedicated to public use allow students and visitors to witness the work in action. Strategic placement of faculty offices among different departments encourages cross-pollination and informal collaboration, supporting a vibrant intellectual culture.

The Bellisario Media Center not only supports students but also serves as the workplace for professionals from external programs that are embedded within the academic building. These include:

MERL (The Media Effects Research Laboratory), an independent research entity
CommAgency, a student-run advertising group that supports external clients as well as other colleges under Penn State's purview
The Daily Collegian, an independent newspaper that leases office space and shares the open newsroom with Bellisario students
Penn State's Strategic Communications group

The space is also a powerful recruiting tool: over 66% of prospective students who tour the building enroll, and application rates have significantly increased since the project’s inception.

Co-Creation through Vision and Stakeholder Engagement
Well before design began, Penn State organized site visits with more than a dozen faculty and staff teams to explore peer institutions with similar programs and local news organizations. Their findings directly informed program development and design priorities, creating shared ownership across the college. Once selected, STUDIOS brought together a consistent core team with experience in the broadcast industry who worked seamlessly with Penn State through every step of the process.

STUDIOS leveraged previous experience with broadcast clients to offer industry-standard solutions within this educational setting. Further, fitting for a school whose focus is on emerging visual tools, STUDIOS developed AR models of the building to allow project stakeholders to experience the space before it was built—and to provide real-time feedback on the design.

Real-World Impact and Recruitment Success
The new Bellisario Media Center has become a statewide hub for professional production and outreach—hosting Penn State’s StratComm, PBS broadcasts, industry collaborations, and media research. The space is also a powerful recruiting tool: over 66% of prospective students who tour the building enroll, and application rates have significantly increased since the project’s inception.

At its core, this project embodies STUDIOS’ commitment to designing resilient, future-ready academic spaces. The Bellisario Media Center offers adaptable frameworks to accommodate the latest industry advancements, ensuring that students have the professional-grade tools necessary to prepare them for professional careers.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Create a strong vision for teaching future innovators | Make strategic choices in curriculum development and space planning, ensuring that educational environments are conducive to real-world learning
Expand benchmarking beyond peer institutions | Look to leaders in the industry to stay current with workplace evolution
Re-imagine what community & industry integration looks like | Identify opportunities for partnerships and synergies with local businesses, professionals, and organizations—and build in space to facilitate these partnerships
Leverage opportunities for collaboration | Develop connections across majors and with other academic units outside of the College, and build in space to facilitate these partnerships
Create spaces and programs that better prepare students for their future careers | Classrooms and production environments—informed by the workplaces students will see when they enter the job market—lead to improved job readiness and higher employment rates.
Devote spaces to facilitating innovation | Design meaningful flexibility into planning strategies to allow spaces to evolve alongside pedagogy.
Re-think faculty space | Integrate offices within and adjacent to academic programs to facilitate student/faculty relationships and make faculty spaces more accessible.
Design for diverse student needs | Prioritize spaces for hands-on learning, self-guided study, and group collaborations.

The project includes state-of-the-art audio studios for podcasting and audio engineering; broadcast studios; production classrooms; a screening room; a news suite with a news lab and open newsroom; an emerging technology lab; and faculty offices—which offer hands-on experience within real-world settings. Photo: © Bruce Damonte

The design of the Media Center strives to reinforce the dean’s vision of an open, collaborative, entrepreneurial, and creative learning environment that fosters storytelling across the different disciplines of the College. Photo: © Bruce Damonte

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