MSU Wins Wood Design Award for STEM Facility
Michigan State University's STEM Teaching and Learning Facility, Michigan's first mass timber building, earned the WoodWorks Wood Design Award for Wood in Schools.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Secondary Education
Michigan State University received the WoodWorks Wood Design Award for Wood in Schools for its STEM Teaching and Learning Facility. The building is Michigan's first mass timber building and was built by renovating the decommissioned Shaw Lane Power Plant beside Spartan Stadium.
Why it matters
The award recognizes a renovation approach that reuses an existing industrial structure while using engineered wood in a school setting. The facility serves roughly 7,000 students every week, bringing the design approach into daily academic use.
The mass timber in the facility stores carbon equivalent to 4.7 million miles of driving or about 2 million pounds of coal burned. The complex combines 121,290 square feet of new construction with the original 48,531 square-foot power plant.
The players
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing that owns the STEM Teaching and Learning Facility and sought the WoodWorks recognition.
WoodWorks
WoodWorks is a nonprofit organization that promotes wood design and has run its Wood Design Award program for 15 years.
The details
The renovated center section uses steel beams connected to existing steel columns, while new floors use CLT structural decks topped with a natural maple surface. The mass timber comes from Forest Stewardship Council black spruce harvested in northern Quebec.
Timeline
Shaw Lane Power Plant was decommissioned before its renovation into the STEM facility.
The facility now serves roughly 7,000 students every week.
Seasonal Patterns
The project extends the adaptive-reuse pattern of converting decommissioned industrial sites into active campus buildings. Its use of mass timber in a converted power plant marks a departure from conventional steel-and-concrete school construction in Michigan.
East Lansing students and campus visitors will use the STEM facility weekly for classes and laboratory work. The renovation shows how existing campus structures can be repurposed for current academic needs.
The takeaway
Reusing existing structures and choosing mass timber can deliver substantial carbon benefits while meeting modern classroom needs. Schools weighing renovation against new construction may find adaptive reuse a practical option.
Further reading
Explore more on Secondary Education in East Lansing.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Farm Progress.
