Designing with Purpose: Graduate Studio Creates Storage Solutions for The Tool Library
Kelly Sheldon November 12, 2025
This fall, graduate students in the UB Architecture Material Culture Research Studio took on a unique challenge: designing user-friendly storage systems for The Tool Library, a local nonprofit that supports the community through affordable access to an extensive collection of tools.
Dedicated to empowering the community through shared access to tools, resources, and knowledge, The Tool Library supports homeowners and community organizations in their efforts to repair, maintain, and improve Buffalo’s built environment. The library boasts more than 4,800 tools and serves more than 1,400 active members across Western New York.
In alignment with the School’s “learn-through-making” ethos, the 14 students in this studio paired up to develop designs that not only house the tools but visually communicate their use and invite interaction. The project parameters—developed by Clinical Assistant Professor of Architecture and Director of the Fabrication Workshop, Steph Cramer—required that each solution be scalable with the ability to expand either vertically or horizontally.
Storage for folding chairs and tables optimizes space. Photo by Darra Kubera
To kick off the project, the students met with two UB alumni—Darren Cotton (MUP ’12), Tool Library Executive Director and Maddie Collins (BA ’16), Tool Library Director of Operations—to tour the space and better understand the organization’s needs before designing these custom solutions. Next, they brought their ideas to life in the School of Architecture and Planning’s Fabrication Workshop, a fully equipped experimental teaching and research lab on South Campus with tools for woodworking, metalworking, assembly, and digital fabrication.
The result was seven innovative storage solutions tailored for a range of tools, including rakes, shovels, clamps, sledgehammers, and weed whackers—each designed to be functional, informative, and user friendly to support the ever-growing community of Buffalo makers.
One team tackled the challenge of organizing The Tool Library’s collection of clamps. Their wooden unit featured a robin-egg-blue display sample for each type of clamp, demonstrating its proper use, thus helping users quickly identify the right tool for their job. Adjustable shelving accommodates various clamp sizes and storage needs and allows for future expansion.
The blue "display clamp" illustrates its proper function for Tool Library members. Photo by Darra Kubera
“We did a lot of research into the history of the different types of clamps and how they all function,” they shared. “The hardest part was making sure we had all eight clamps displayed. Putting the whole thing together was kind of a big puzzle."
Another group focused on shovels. Their solution stacks the shovels horizontally on notched shelves, with a row of upright “display shovels” set in a dirt-filled box. This not only makes them easy to grab but also encourages users to clean them before returning. The design promotes equal use by cycling shovels through the system.
The biggest lesson for them was designing for human function—such as how far an arm can reach or the necessary height between different levels—through a full-scale build. “There are things you don’t typically notice when you’re working with smaller model scales,” they noted. “You can really work out the kinks when you do it in full scale.”
Both The Tool Library and the UB School of Architecture and Planning share core values of empowerment and access, and this mutually beneficial project was made possible with support from the UB Civic Engagement Research Fund.