Project: Wellness & Flexible Meeting Hub (Room 155)
Location: East Lansing, MI
Industry: Higher Education
Size: 520 sq. ft.
Following the tragic events on campus in February 2023, Room 155 became an impromptu safe space where students gathered to reflect, connect, and support one another. Seeing its importance, MSU partnered with DBI to create a permanent, adaptable wellness room that preserves its symbolic role as a place of safety and connection while still serving as a flexible faculty meeting space when needed.
Project Overview
THE CHALLENGE
The redesign needed to replace the cold, institutional finishes with softer, more inviting colors, calm the echoes, and do it all within 520 square feet — while classes carried on just outside the door. It also had to honor the space’s new role as a place of comfort and connection for students in the wake of the tragedy.
The Solution
A layered mix of acoustic design, mobile furniture, lounge seating with power access, community tackboards, and biophilic touches created a flexible, calming space where students can gather, reflect, or reconfigure the room as their needs change.
Acoustic Feature Wall:
A felt panel that fades from Spartan green to white frames a wood sign reading “You Belong Here” and tamps down harsh echo. The gradient honors school colors without turning the room into a shrine.
Furniture on the Move:
Four Haworth Planes flip-nest tables and Jive chairs glide aside for wellness circles or roll back into rows for twenty-person meetings.
Comfort & Power Zones:
Haworth Poppy lounge chairs, Pip laptop tables, and an X-Series media console create plug-in nooks for journaling, device charging, or virtual counseling.
Collage Wall:
Haworth tackboards invite students to pin art and affirmations, ensuring the room evolves with its community.
Biophilic Touches:
A preserved-moss insert and low-care plants bring nature inside with. The moss wall – which doesn’t need to be watered – has already shown up in dozens of student social posts. A quiet sign the space resonates.
Featured Products
✓ Haworth Jive tables
✓ Haworth Maari chairs & stools
✓ Haworth Pop-Up tables
✓ Haworth Intuity benching
✓ Haworth Fern executive chairs
✓ Haworth Riverbend sofas
✓ Haworth Resonate lounge
✓ Haworth Poppy lounge
✓ Haworth Pip laptop tables
✓ Haworth X-Series & Master Series bookcases
✓ Haworth Openest Chick Poufs
✓ OFS Boost Ottomans
THE RESULTS
Quick change-over: Mobile flip-nest furniture lets staff reset the room in minutes.
Trusted refuge: Students drop in for reflection, small-group work, and scheduled meetings every day, proving its ongoing value.
Thoughtful finishes: Soft, inviting surfaces reduce echoes and wipe clean easily, balancing comfort, calm, and practicality.
“My vision was for a place where folks could connect, re-charge, and relax. It serves that purpose wonderfully. Several student groups have used it for events and like the relaxed and calm atmosphere, as well as the feeling of belonging that it promotes. The room has been a great addition to our School and the larger College community.”
– Nancy Gray, Building Coordinator
Behind the Design
PATTI MCMANUS
DBI Business Development Executive
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Michigan State University for many years, and projects like Baker Hall are especially meaningful to me. A lot of heart went into the details of that space, all with students in mind. Knowing the environment we helped create will play a role in their daily lives on campus is something I’m really proud of.”
STEPHANIE MAPES
DBI Senior Interior Designer
“Designing this space, I felt a huge responsibility to create somewhere students could feel safe, recharge, and connect. Education is especially important to me because it supports so many students, and those moments — big and small — truly matter for their community and for our collective future. Watching this place transform from an anxious circle of chairs into a space that says, in every way possible, ‘You belong here,’ is the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on.”