On May 15, UC San Diego and UC supplier MillerKnoll hosted a full-day Education Design Day that brought together representatives from the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) to explore emerging trends in campus planning, housing, and inclusive design.
The event featured a guided tour of UC San Diego’s evolving student housing and dining environments, led by veteran campus designer, Lynn Andersen. Attendees also heard from keynote speaker Betsy Graham, Design Principal at HOK—a global design architecture, engineering, and urban planning firm—who shared compelling research on how neurodiverse design can support a broader range of student needs.
The day wrapped up with campus case studies that highlighted real-world solutions in sustainability, space transformation, and project execution:
- San Diego State shared how MillerKnoll’s recommendation for reupholstering select existing furniture at Zura Hall—rather than purchasing new—helped the university cut waste and redirect over $250,000 toward other housing initiatives.
- Cal Poly Humboldt demonstrated how leveraging the existing UC furniture contract helped them fast-track procurement and installation for five major capital projects—without expanding staff.
- UC Santa Barbara showcased its Navigator Project, which allowed their Design and Construction department to move from outdated work trailers into modern, collaborative office spaces by involving staff directly in the design process.
The event reinforced the value of cross-campus collaboration and using shared systemwide contracts like MillerKnoll to solve design and procurement challenges more efficiently.
MillerKnoll’s value-added services and resources available to UC and CSU:
- Unique, integrated approach to campus partnerships
- Only UC furniture supplier committed to honoring original contract pricing without passing on additional tariff costs
- Furniture budget validation (e.g., for UC Berkeley’s People’s Park)
- eProcurement integration (active at UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara; in progress at UC Los Angeles, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Berkeley)
- Visualization assets for donor engagement and capital fundraising
- CompassAI – proprietary platform for generative space planning, layouts, and renderings
- Design with Impact strategy for educational environments
- 2024 Better World Report highlighting sustainability goals