Skylights light the main lab area for students to use and make the space open and inviting.
The renovations to Kopiko took more than a year to complete and are now as good as finished.
One of the more noticeable changes in Kopiko is the new mural of the Hawaiian Islands and the world covering the walls of the lecture rooms on the left side of the building. But that wasn’t the original design.
“The original mural had a picture of Queen Kapi‘olani on it but some of the native Hawaiian groups were afraid that people would lean against the queen, and that was disrespectful,” said Steven Singer, KapCC’s IT program coordinator, “so out of consideration…we asked the artist to redesign.”
When the new design was pasted on the walls, it wasn’t aligned properly so it overlapped in areas. Therefore for a second time, the wallpaper was removed and reapplied.
The lecture rooms themselves have a small problem as well. According to Singer, the projectors are still not mounted to the ceiling due to a contract that is being held up at UH Manoa. The contract is projected to go through in the spring semester.
The Kopiko Learning Center has a total of 136 new computers, each with a 23-inch touch screen display.
The main lab, which used to let in little outside light, was extended to include some of the wasted space outside. Skylights and glass walls not only light the space, but make the area more inviting.
Two smaller break-out rooms were created for students to use for group projects or meetings. The divider separating the rooms can be used as a white board or be moved to the side to create one larger conference room.
With the new Faronics Insite technology, instructors will be able to project what is on their computer to the computers the students are using in the classrooms. Insite promotes collaboration by letting instructors deliver interactive lessons and also limit distractions since it has the ability to limit access to apps, the web, or even lock the mice and keyboard.
New VersaTables in the classroom feature a rotating panel that can hide the touchscreen monitors when they are not being used so students can have full desk space.
The smaller business development rooms fit about four people, making them perfect for advisory groups.
“We work with a lot of companies in the community,” said Singer, “And you want to give them an opportunity to have some space here so they can talk with our students… so they can get jobs or intern(ships) or just consulting.”
But these completed projects aren’t the last thing being done to Kopiko to uplift the building.
Phase two of the Kopiko renovations will begin in about a year. Another grant was secured to make the outside courtyard more student friendly.
Those renovations will be adding tables and umbrellas like in ‘Iliahi because according to Singer, “we have nothing up here on this side of campus, so if we could just have something that can give students a place where we can allow them to hang out it would be so much nicer.”
The center will be open at the start of the new semester, but the blessing ceremony will be held on Jan. 30.