Architectural juggernaut Steinberg has recently finished up two LA projects in a field you may not expect: educational real estate. Associate Principal Joe Sion tells Bisnow the firm designed a reno of a UCLA student housing project originally built to accommodate members of the 1984 Olympics. The $17M project by contractor Icon West included what Joe calls a complete re-skinning of the 79k SF structure with an updated and modern design, including new bathroom fixtures and flooring, new windows and a whole new exterior look in the classic UCLA colors.

The four-building, 81-unit complex is set up into a series of two-bedroom “suites,” which can house four or five students with a shared bathroom. Also as part of the project, Joe tells us the firm designed a new 5k SF commons building, which replaced an old adjacent structure that was torn down. The new room is designed around student collaboration, with meeting areas and a kitchen. Don’t worry academics; it’s got a quiet room too.

Also for the new fall semester, Steinberg oversaw the completion of The Garage, an innovation lab on the fourth floor of the Ronald Tutor Campus Center at USC. The project stems from the massive $70M donation made to the school by music industry icons Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young (you may know him better as Dr. Dre).

Director of client development John Wirfs tells us the 9k SF space is geared toward collaboration, with classrooms and what he calls “maker spaces,” where students might create a graphic prototype on a computer. John says chic educational product like this is growing in the market.