Oklahoma Baptist University needed Thurmond Hall to become more than a home for its growing engineering program. The building needed to help prospective students imagine what they could learn, create, and achieve at OBU while demonstrating the university’s commitment to engineering education.

Color Works transformed the second and third floors of an older, tired academic building into an immersive engineering environment filled with custom art, repurposed industrial elements, collaborative work areas, and meaningful donor and industry recognition. The completed space now functions as a recruitment tool, a source of student pride, and a highly visible expression of the program’s ambition.

Located in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Baptist University was building an engineering program that was less than 10 years old. To compete with longer-established programs, the university needed to show prospective students, families, donors, and industry partners that it understood both the technical and human sides of engineering education.

Thurmond Hall needed to present a complete academic experience through lab spaces, common areas, focused work-study zones, and comfortable lounges. The design had to feel intelligent and engineering-specific without becoming cold, mechanical, or institutional.

The building also needed to communicate that engineering is not limited to equations, machinery, or laboratories. It is a discipline shaped by creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, and the people who move ideas forward.

One of the project’s most significant challenges was continuity. The first floor of Thurmond Hall had been completed approximately five years earlier, so the new work needed to complement the existing design while pulling the second and third floors into a more current era.

Color Works was tasked with creating a cohesive experience that respected what was already in place but felt distinctly more forward-looking for a new generation of engineering students. The space also needed to serve faculty, staff, donors, and industry partners who were actively supporting the program’s growth.
The university wanted the finished building to strengthen recruitment, create pride among current students, make industry relationships visible, and give donors a tangible connection to the progress their support made possible.

Color Works developed an interior design, FF&E, project management, and custom art strategy built around the many forms engineering can take.
A custom wallcovering profiling women in engineering introduced both representation and storytelling into the building. Rather than relying on generic technical graphics, the installation gave students visible examples of women whose work helped shape the profession and reinforced a broader vision of who can become an engineer.

Former runway lights were repurposed and integrated into the interiors, allowing authentic aviation components to take on a new function within the building. In another corridor, airplane-inspired lights were positioned to create the sensation of moving down a runway or flying through the hallway. These details turned ordinary circulation areas into moments of discovery while connecting the environment directly to engineering, mechanics, and motion.

One of the building’s signature custom art pieces was created from multiple motherboards joined together as a single contiguous installation. Seen individually, the components represented circuitry and technology. Seen together, they became a larger visual statement about systems, connection, and the way individual parts contribute to a more complex whole.
To balance the technical features, Color Works incorporated organic materials, including wood-slat walls that brought warmth, rhythm, and texture into the academic environment. These elements helped the building feel welcoming and human while supporting the precision of the engineering-inspired details.

The FF&E plan created distinct places for students to study, collaborate, recharge, and work between classes. Lab environments were supported by common areas, focused work-study spaces, and lounges that made the building feel active throughout the day. The result was an environment that supported both concentrated technical work and the informal exchanges that often lead to new ideas.

An expandable industry partner wall gave the university a visible platform for recognizing the organizations supporting the program. The system was intentionally designed to grow, allowing new partners to be added over time as the engineering program and its professional relationships continued to develop.
The donor wall became one of the building’s most powerful narrative features. Real industrial gears, ranging from only a few pounds to nearly 100 pounds, were mounted together to represent the role donors play in advancing the program. The message was direct and memorable: without donor support, the wheels of progress do not move.

Impact for Owners & Investors
• Transformed an aging academic building into a marketable destination for prospective engineering students and their families.
• Strengthened recruitment by helping visitors visualize the full student experience through laboratories, work-study spaces, collaborative areas, and lounges.
• Gave a relatively young engineering program a more competitive presence alongside established university programs.
• Increased donor engagement by connecting philanthropy to a distinctive, engineering-specific installation built from real industrial gears.
• Made industry relationships visible through an expandable partner wall that can evolve as the program grows.
• Increased student pride by creating an environment rooted in engineering history, technology, representation, and creative problem-solving.
• Extended the useful and perceived value of the existing building by complementing the previously completed first floor while repositioning the upper levels for a new generation.

Thurmond Hall demonstrates how a repurposed academic building can become a strategic tool for enrollment, fundraising, student experience, and industry engagement. Through custom storytelling, authentic engineering elements, and spaces designed around how students actually learn and connect, Oklahoma Baptist University created an environment that gives its growing program a stronger competitive voice.

Connect with Color Works to explore how strategic interior design, FF&E, project management, and custom art can turn your next academic renovation into a lasting recruitment and advancement asset.