Our diverse blend of studios and labs represent our focus on experiential learning. These spaces feature state-of-the-art equipment and offer the opportunity to work alongside faculty and industry professionals seeking to solve real-world design and planning challenges.

Design Studios and Labs

Design studios

The studio method of education is central to CAP’s success and provides students with hands-on design exercises almost every semester. That makes the design studios the hub of activity in our college.

Throughout your college career, you will be assigned your own personal work space in a studio, accessible 24/7 while the university is in session. Each design studio offers state-of-the-art tools and materials for creating drawings, models, and other hands-on assignments. All departmental and faculty offices are located near the studios to enhance mentoring and student/faculty rapport.

You will have all of the technology you need to succeed in today’s world of environmental design and planning, which employs digital technology to facilitate both the analysis that precedes the design process as well as the design process itself.

Our students have access to a variety of digital design and presentation tools, including 3-D modeling and animation software, video filming and editing equipment, and live interactive media.

Student Working in Studio

This high end computer lab is available to classes with exceptional project-based needs. It has been used to create thermal, solar, environmental, acoustic, or structural simulations for recognized projects.

Tools and Equipment

  • High-end workstations including those with Xeon processors and Quadro graphics cards
  • VR-capable workstations connected to Oculus headsets
  • Small meeting/presentation area with large monitor

High-end software includes:

  • Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
  • Autodesk Suite
  • Rhino 3D
  • CAM software for 3-Axis Mill and 5-Axis robotic arm

Digital Simulation Lab

Learn More

Through the SimLab, our students and faculty work directly with businesses and nonprofits, helping them address their challenges while gaining real-world experience. See for yourself.



Digital fabrication is the way of the future, and this laser lab allows you to engage in this process that joins design with production through the use of 3D modeling software or computer-aided design (CAD) and additive and subtractive manufacturing processes.

The "Fab Lab," as we call it, contains equipment for designing and making 1:1 prototypes of building and furniture components, as well as smaller-scale models. Located in the Architecture Building, room 031, the lab is part of the CAP shops, which includes the wood shop, metal shop and paint room.

For more information, contact Judy Kreiger.

Hours of Operation

You may only enter the Laser Lab through AB 031 and the Wood Shop in AB 029. If either of those doors are closed, that respective area is closed.

Reservations and walk-in

  • Time may be reserved in 20-minute increments totaling one hour per day, 3 times per week.
  • Unreserved time slots may be used on a first‐come first‐served basis.
  • BE ON TIME! If you are not here within 4 minutes of your scheduled appointment, your reserved time slot will be given to a peer, who is on stand-by as a walk-in, five minutes after your scheduled time.
  • SIGN IN when you arrive to use a walk-in or a scheduled machine
  • NEVER leave a project unattended! While your file is cutting on the laser, YOU MUST REMAIN IN THE ROOM, ensuring that you project cuts safely. If you leave your project, the machine will be shut down.

Lasers may only be used by CAP students, faculty, and staff. For individuals or groups outside the college, you must have permission to use the FABLAB and shop facilities. For permission, contact Dave Ferguson, Interim Dean of the College of Architecture and Planning. 

Laser Cutter Instructions

Material restrictions

The maximum thickness of material used on the laser cutter is 1/4-inch. Materials greater than 1/4-inch thickness must be cut on a saw or with another cutting method or tool. 

Permitted materials on the lasers include: Acrylic (from the CRC), Matte Board, Illustration Board, Chip Board, Balsa Wood, Bass Wood, Plywood, and Masonite. All materials MUST be 1/4-inch thickness or less.

Materials NOT permitted on the lasers include: Foam Core, PVC, Steel, or metal of any kind.

Note: If you use a material or thickness that is not allowed on the lasers, you may lose your laser lab privileges.

Digital Fabrication Lab


It takes the latest equipment and technology to adequately research and preserve the oldest architecture and buildings.

Students in our historic preservation program use the Preservation Lab to carry out class projects in preservation technology, including conservation and paint and mortar analysis.

Equipment

  • stereo microscopes that can capture digital images of material samples up to 180 times
  • field kits for building assessments
  • heat lamps for drying mortar samples
  • a desiccating chamber
  • various hand tools for material sampling
  • a pressure washer
  • catalogs and literature related to the latest materials and products

Architecture Building, Room 029 and the Design Build Lab 765-285-5859
Supervised by a full-time shop technician, the Wood/Metal/Plastics Shop provides students with the equipment they need for working with wood, metal, plastics, and other materials. The technician assists students in model building and creative projects for hands-on courses in the College of Architecture and Planning (CAP). The shop is open during regular university hours, plus additional evening hours.

Tools and Equipment

  • hand tools
  • woodworking machines
  • welding equipment
  • vacuum forming machines
  • computer numerical control (CNC) router

These are normal operating hours. If advance notice is given by faculty, the shop may extend hours to accommodate peak project times or close for specific class use. If the door is closed during normal hours, please check the door on the opposite end of the lab.

The Wood Shop is closed for all major and university holidays, breaks, and observances.

Students in Digital Fabrication Lab