At OK State: A First-Place National Award for Architecture from Retrofit Magazine
Nov-Dec 2025
Rand Elliott Architects’ design for Oklahoma State University’s “Engineering South,” fuses history, sustainability, and learning. The result is an environment that takes OSU’s facilities for Engineering, Architecture and Technology (CEAT) to the cutting edge of the profession.
OSU Architecture alumnus Rand Elliott, FAIA and his firm, Rand Elliott Architects, renovated the 1938 Engineering building and designed a dynamic, two-story Auditorium with a two-story glass passage linking the two.
“This project stands as evidence that the most sustainable building is often the one already standing. It just needs someone to imagine its potential and bring it into the light.”
Potential Seized
National recognition has followed the architectural renovation-expansion of Oklahoma State University’s 1938 “Engineering South” building. The project won first place in Retrofit Magazine’s 2025 Metamorphosis Awards’ Whole Building category, a collaboration between Rand Elliott Architects – an Oklahoma City–based, nationally recognized firm led by OSU alumnus Rand Elliott, FAIA — and OSU’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology (CEAT) faculty and students.
The U.S. publication’s annual awards program recognizes projects that transform existing buildings into modern, high-performing spaces while preserving their historic character. Metamorphosis captures the theme of transformation. The magazine’s November-December 2025 issue features all award winners.
New Life for a Stately Building, circa 1938
“This renovation has exceeded my expectations in breathing new life into one of our heritage buildings,” said OSU University Architect Jana Phillips. “The exterior refurbishments maintain the elegance of our Collegiate Georgian style while the interiors are a refreshing juxtaposition for students, faculty and staff.”
The five-story, 88,000-square-foot building now features flexible, light-filled spaces designed to foster collaboration, innovation and hands-on learning. A new 12,000 SF addition accommodates a 300-seat auditorium and lobby that serve both students and the broader campus community. Sustainable upgrades include LED lighting, high-efficiency windows and mechanical systems, water-saving features, and restored historic details such as the elegant Zodiac floor insignia.
Architecture Preservation + Transformation
Elliott described the project as both preservation and transformation, which is precisely what Retrofit magazine celebrates. “Our vision was to maintain the integrity of the original structure, to learn its architectural secrets, and to re-energize it,” Elliott said. “We wanted Engineering South to be a teaching tool—exposing structure, celebrating history, and overlaying past, present and future. Most importantly, we brought it out of the dark. Now the building glows with the energy of engineering.”
"Rand Elliott is an expert in nuanced building renovations. He retains and amplifies the building’s history while writing a new chapter with bold additions.”
An Eye for Nuance
“Rand Elliott is an expert in nuanced building renovations,” said Oklahoma State’s School of Architecture Head, Professor Nathan Richardson. “He retains and amplifies the building’s history while writing a new chapter with bold additions. The Engineering South renovation is one such example. He’s adept in using light to create meaningful experiences for people through architecture.”
Rand Elliott Architects developed its expertise in completing close to 200 preservation projects, from the red brick 1912 Heierding Building/Meat Market-turned modern architectural studio.
The three-story home to multiple generations of the Heierding family in downtown OKC’s Flatiron District to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, a.k.a. Oklahoma Heritage Center, the former headquarters of Midcontinent Oil Company at the edge of OKC’s Heritage Hills and Midtown.
The November–December 2026 issue of Retrofit Magazine, featuring the Metamorphosis Awards, is available online here.
“The project stands as evidence that the most sustainable building is often the one already standing. It just needs someone to imagine its potential and bring it into the light.”
Awards Jury Comments
“A creative and innovative way to expose this structure for use as a teaching tool. I especially liked the way that modern innovations like glass entry walls were ‘slid’ into place within the historic building fabric—almost as if they’d always been there.”
– Juror Daryl Johnson, AIA, NCARB, president, Johnson Architecture
“A sophisticated marriage of the contemporary and historic. Clever design integrating depictions of various engineering principles.”
– Juror Andrew C. Smith, AIA, principal, Hennebery Eddy Architects
Since its founding in 2012, Retrofit Magazine has become the premier U.S. publication dedicated to renovation, adaptive reuse and reinvention. Its annual Metamorphosis Awards highlight outstanding transformations across categories, including Interiors, Historic Structures, Whole Buildings and other categories.
THEN: 1940s
NOW
Glass & Brick, Light & Shadow
Oklahoma State Architecture alumnus Rand Elliott, FAIA and his firm, Rand Elliott Architects, renovated the 1938 building’s interior, and designed a two-story Auditorium with two-story glass connection between the two. The effect says “innovation.” The first encounter, the Zink Center for Competitive Innovation, makes an exciting statement about where learning leads – at the speed at which innovation today is taking place.
New Lobby: Zink Center
With a swagger, the new Zink Center for Competitive Innovation greets the world at OSU’s Engineering South. It highlights building’s bright, newly energized Lobby and the ingenuity John Zink exemplified in Tulsa throughout a lifetime. From global success in combustion motors and auto racing. a vast philanthropic legacy includes the Oklahoma State Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) race team program.
Today the historic “bones” of Engineering South’s original building are bathed in luminous new light; its modern edge speaks to the spark of contemporary creativity this building is designed to nurture.
Energized and “Bleeding Orange”
The long hallway’s lineup of chairs not only gives passersby a place to pauseand chat, but the lone orange chair provokes a smile — a sly reminder that Oklahoma State University famously “bleeds orange.” It’s a salute to the kind of success that Rand Elliott Architects took pride in designing, top to bottom.
John Zink pioneered innovation and entrepreneurial achievement, founding his own company in 1928 in Tulsa to manufacture the burners he had invented. He drove success for Boy Scouts and championship race cars. The success reflects the confident determination of a man secure in his beliefs and his desire to make a positive impact on the lives of others.
The renovation is a showcase for many inspiring success stories, including the university’s ties to winning, in business and on the racetrack.
