The expected appearance of the completed College of Engineering Annex

Photo: KHU (www.khu.ac.kr)

Kyung Hee University held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new College of Engineering Annex building on August 12. Chairman Cho In-won, President Kim Jin-sang, and Dean Choi Jin-hwan attended, along with other guests. The ceremony included a formal declaration marking the start of construction and the first shoveling ceremony. Construction is expected to take about 18 months, targeting completion in December 2027. Designed to alleviate current spatial constraints, the annex will focus on creating spaces for student learning and collaboration.

In his address, President Kim highlighted the College of Engineering's strong programs in robotics, manufacturing, AI transformation, advanced materials, energy, and digital health, giving it an edge over other universities. He added the annex will serve as a hub for the college's efforts to become a world-class research-intensive university.

An Aging Building, A Growing Need

The current building, which opened in 1984, has stood for four decades. Classrooms are too narrow and long for problem-based learning (PBL) classes. Students have few places to rest between classes. Faculty also lack adequate research space.

Heo Soo-jin, a student at the Dept. of Architecture, has experienced these spatial constraints firsthand. "There is not enough workspace," she said. "We often have to work on assignments and other activities on our own outside of class." "The architecture classrooms aren't really built for graduation exhibitions or model-making, so it's hard to get that kind of work done there," she said. "And during exam periods, it's almost impossible to find a seat at the convenience store or in the study areas. There's barely any space to build models, either." These ongoing problems shaped the plan for the annex, which aims to provide space for the various activities students have long struggled to accommodate.

A Design Built Around Students

The annex will rise on the lot in front of the current building. It will stand three stories tall and cover approximately 3,855 square meters. Professor Kim Dong-il of the Dept. of Architecture led the design, organizing the space around two concepts: fusion and openness. The first floor will have five classrooms, a large seminar room, and a fusion lab. The second floor will include five more classrooms, a small seminar room, and a multipurpose auditorium. The third floor will be designed as a pavilion space.

Prof. Kim explained how the plan changed. The initial plan focused on faculty research space, but it later shifted toward creating shared spaces where students could interact. He said the biggest significance of the annex is that "it creates a space where members of the community can interact." The fusion lab will allow students from diverse majors to work together on joint projects, while flexible classrooms are designed to accommodate project-based and discussion-based classes. A fusion lounge will also provide a place for students to interact freely outside the classroom. Prof. Kim identified the fusion lounge and courtyard as the spaces students are likely to use most, saying he focused on these shared spaces throughout the design process. Outside the building, a courtyard inspired by the raised platform at Jongmyo Shrine will provide the outdoor space the current building has lacked, as well as a new place for students to relax. Prof. Kim said he focused on preserving the history and symbolic significance of the current building while creating a design that harmonizes with the new one.

The annex will also serve as a testbed for advanced technology. As part of Professor Hwang Kyung-eun's Smart+Building Core Technology Development project, the building will be designed as a robot-friendly space where eight types of robots are expected to provide real services. Prof. Kim said the building will be equipped with automatic doors, elevators, and communication and electrical infrastructure to support the robots, creating an environment where robots and people can use the space together.

Students Look Forward to the Change

Students are also looking forward to the new space. Lee Jae-jun, a student of the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, expects the new classrooms and labs to make classes and experiments more convenient. "A more comfortable environment will help us focus more in class," he said. "Experiments will also be easier to conduct." He also looks forward to the rest areas and fusion lounge, which he expects will give students more options for spending time between classes and allow them to balance studying and resting more flexibly.

Heo also shares this expectation. She expects the new workspace will give students more room to carry out graduation exhibitions and model-making on campus, reducing the burden of completing such work.

In response to these expectations, the University is also pursuing additional efforts to address the shortage of space across campus alongside the construction of the annex. Recognizing that new construction alone cannot solve the problem, the University plans to improve its space management system, renovate existing facilities, and make better use of outdoor spaces. In the long term, it plans to expand educational and research spaces on both campuses through projects including the annex and the second phase of the Space 21 project. The annex marks a first step toward addressing the University's space shortage over time.

The new College of Engineering Annex building is expected to address the spatial limitations of the current building while creating a student-centered space where education, research, rest, and collaboration can take place together. Its use as a robot-friendly building, where robots will provide real services, also makes it a notable testbed, a relatively uncommon example among Korean universities. With completion scheduled for December 2027, it remains to be seen how students will use the new space and what changes it will bring to campus life.