StudioBRIDGE is an awareness system, based on instant messaging (IM), developed for students working in open studio spaces in the Architecture Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The goal of StudioBRIDGE is to help students initiate online and offline interactions by giving them an awareness of nearby people, groups, locations, and events of the community. Even when students are working in close proximity to each other, they are often not aware of the activities and expertise of their colleagues nearby. We believe that this integrated awareness could lead to increased peer learning and expertise sharing by encouraging informal social communication, particularly in groups whose members have existing social and physical ties. In this paper, we describe the user community and the motivation, design, and initial pilot deployment of StudioBRIDGE.