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20 students in the Gibbs College of Architecture’s American School Design+Build (ASDB) program, including 13 architecture students, 6 construction science students and 1 environmental design student, are partnering this semester with WildCare Oklahoma, and together they have been named one of five North American finalists for the Land Rover Defender Service Awards. The honor carries the opportunity for a $30,000 grant, with funding supported by Chase and other high-profile sponsors, including Disney. The winner will be determined by public vote October 3–19, 2025. You can cast your vote for WildCare Oklahoma on Land Rover’s website.
As part of the year-long design-build studio, OU Architecture and Construction Science students are working with WildCare to design and construct a Bat and Swift Rehabilitation Facility. The project is led by faculty members Ken Marold in the Division of Architecture and Bryan Bloom in the Haskell and Irene Lemon Construction Science Division. If awarded, the grant will be dedicated directly to this project, helping create specialized enclosures that improve animal care while also giving students hands-on professional experience.
Design+Build students working on-site
ASDB is a hallmark of Gibbs College’s approach to experiential education. Each year, students take on a real client, a real site, and a real community need, guiding projects from schematic design through construction. The program reflects the ethos of OU’s American School of Architecture, which emphasizes experimentation, responsiveness to place, and the inseparability of making and thinking.
Recent ASDB projects include the Urban Learning Greenhouse at John Rex Charter School in Oklahoma City, the SunHive Collective Community Space in Norman, and a series of community greenhouses supporting STEAM education across the metro. These projects demonstrate the program’s dual impact: preparing students for practice while delivering lasting facilities to schools, nonprofits, and community organizations.
WildCare, based in Noble, is one of Oklahoma’s leading wildlife rehabilitation organizations, providing treatment and care for thousands of animals each year. The new facility designed in partnership with OU will expand its capacity to care for bats and chimney swifts, two species vital to ecological balance in the region.
If you would like to learn more about WildCare and its mission, visit wildcareoklahoma.org.
You can also follow the American School Design Build’s ongoing progress and projects at americanschooldesignbuild.com or on Instagram at @ou_designbuild.
Associate Professors Lee Fithian, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Pober have published a chapter in the recently released New Perspectives in Indoor Air Quality, published by Elsevier. Their contribution, titled “Chapter 16 – Architecture and the Challenges of Indoor Air Quality,” examines the relationship between architecture and indoor air quality.
Dr. Ladan Mozaffarian, Assistant Professor of Regional and City Planning, has been selected to serve as Co-Chair of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) Planners of Color Interest Group (POCIG) for the 2025–2027 term.
The Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Tahsin Tabassum, a recent graduate of the college’s Master of Regional and City Planning program and current doctoral student at the University of California, Irvine, for receiving the prestigious 2024–2025 American Planning Association (APA) Outstanding Student Award.
