To view any of the architect's responses, please click on a firm below. You can also page through all the responses.
-Gallo Herbert Lebolo
Diana Herbert, LEED AP, Director of Interior Design
-GMB Architecture
Kelly McDaniel, LEED AP, Interior Designer, and David Wilkins, AIA, Vice President/Project Architect
-Marner Architecture
Larry Marner, AIA, LEED AP, Principal Owner/Partner
-Architects McDonald, Soutar & Paz, Inc. (Architects MSP)
Edgar J. Paz, AIA, Vice President
-Hummel Architects PLLC
Mandy Boam, Interior Designer
-SHP Leading Design
Carrie Malatesta, IIDA, LEED AP, Senior Interior Designer
-DLR Group
Jim French, AIa, REFP, Senior Principal
-NAC | Architecture
Greg Stack, AIA, Principal, K-12 Thought Leader
-The Geddis Partnership PC
Barbara L. Geddis, FAIA, President
-The Stacy Group
Allison Curran, IIDA, Director of Interiors
-Perkins+Will
Michael Kihn, AIA, LEED AP, Principal
-Fanning Howey
Cecilia Durand, Interior Designer/Senior Associate
-Hastings & Chivetta Architects
Adrianne Bellew, LEED AP, NCIDQ, Interior Designer
-Parkin Architects Limited
Lynne Wilson Orr, Principal
-WHR Architects
Marie Hoke, AIA, Project Manager/Senior Designer
-University of Houston, Plant Operations Department
Dave Irvin, Associate Vice Chancellor
-Purple Cherry Architects
Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED AP, Owner/Founder
-BCDM
Apryl Link, IIDA, Interior Design Coordinator
-The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Donald Ellis Moore, Associate Vice President for Operations
-Urbahn Architects
Peter R. Verne, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Associate
-Dore & Whittier Architects, Inc.
Don Walter, AIA, NCARB, Vice President
-Harding Partners
Paul A. Harding, FAIA, Partner
-PBK
Darrick Jahn, Associate, and Greg Louviere, AIA, IIDA, Senior Designer
-Dennis Mires, PA, The Architects
Dennis B. Mires, AIA, President
-Saphire + Albarran Architecture LLC
Joseph E. Saphire, AIA, Principal
-Treanor Architects, PA
Audrie K. Wenger, IIDA, Director of Interior Design
-EwingCole
Don M. Jones, AIA, LEED AP, Principal/Director of Sustainable Design; Charles Rudalavage, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Higher Education Practice; Gayle S. Lane, IIDA, LEED AP, Principal, Director of Interior Design
-Jack Ball and Associates Architects, PC
J. Christopher Ball, AIA, President
-Goodwyn Mills & Cawood, Inc.
Jacquelyn Hart, IIDA, AIA, LEED AP, Design Operations Director
-REES Associates, Inc.
Patrick Bumpas, AIA
-Clark Nexsen Architecture and Engineering
Robert T. Gunn, AIA, LEED AP, Principal
-MVE Institutional, Inc.
Robert Puleo, Associate IIDA, Director of Interiors
-Integrated Design Solutions
Ann Green, IIDA, Senior Associate/Manager, Interior Design Services
Gallo Herbert Lebolo: Diana Herbert, LEED AP Director of Interior Design
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The most significant change over the past 20 years in educational interiors is that the target user has changed. The spaces created for students today must reflect their vision of the world, their insistence on sustainability and the changes on how student study and interact. Previously educational interiors focused more on functional aspects while design took a secondary role. Today these spaces are expected to stimulate the senses of this new breed of students through dramatic spaces, bold design and technical innovation.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
I see the future of the interior educational design as being more interactive and having the ability to adapt to the student users needs. The use of technology will play a major role in how these interior spaces will be used and experienced. With the rate technology advancement spaces will need to be designed with these advancements in mind and will need to be programmed to be able to adapt as new technologies are achieved.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The emergence of green/sustainability design and construction has helped to shape both the interior special environment as well as perception of the educational institution as a whole. Students today not only expect but demand these sustainable aspects within schools and to some extent base their enrollment decisions upon an institutions commitment to sustainability. These aspects should be defined and taken advantage of within the design of new interior spaces by showcasing proper sustainable design and construction. The design intent will become an opportunity for further educating these and future students about the importance of the environment. Furthermore with the increased use of sustainable design professionals are becoming more cognoscente of the importance of material selections both from a sustainability point of view and from a healthy living environment point of view.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
GMB Architecture: Kelly McDaniel, LEED AP Interior Designer, and David Wilkins, AIA,Vice President/Project Architect
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Over the past 20 years, educational interiors have transitioned from functionality to an integrated design approach. The connections of the psychology of space to the overarching design of a building is what is making the educational built environment a place where the “whole” student is being educated. Color trends have diminished along with the “graphics” and made way for the understanding of material and finish selection based on best practice, longevity, sustainability and theme.
What do you see as the future of interior education space in the next few years?
The future of design regarding interior educational spaces centers around collaboration and flexibility. Collaborative learning can be enhanced through the overall design of a classroom, as well as gathering spaces outside of the classroom. Technology and innovative furniture allow for learning to take place in virtually any area of an educational facility.
The penetration of technology into the classroom has certainly affected learning styles as well as teaching methods. Thus, classrooms of the future need to be designed with flexibility in mind. The ability to configure furnishing based upon the group of students and the specific teacher will be paramount to the educational process.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The most significant effect of sustainability within the interior space, specifically within education spaces, is the increased awareness of and interest in one’s surroundings. Administrators, educators, students and facility workers are asking the question, “How can we make our school more green?” As designers, we have the opportunity to design a building that can be utilized as a learning tool. The interior space acts as an instrument to teach students about sustainable initiatives and how these initiatives directly effect their lives. In order to create this type of environment, designers are specifying more sustainable finishes, as well as infusing shapes, textures and colors inspired by nature.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Marner Architecture: Larry Marner, AIA, LEED AP Principal Owner/Partner
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The biggest changes have been in the incorporation of technology, growth in the need for independent study and research, and the need to create greater utilization of all spaces.
As technology has allowed many more immediate linkages with other sources, and locations beyond the classroom, the furniture and equipment for the typical classroom continues to evolve as a more global view evolves for all of us. The growth in information exchange has created a place in academia for more points of interest and directions for curriculum growth necessitating new places on a campus for this work to develop.
With the expansion of need for spaces and the frugality of budgets has evolved a focus on the need to increase the utilization of particularly larger spaces for more uses by incorporating flexible/ moveable furniture and technology.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
The next few years of investment by schools and higher education will mostly be in two areas. The first is in improving utilization by employing flexibility in furniture and incorporating more technology for multiple users. This will avoid the more costly addition of new buildings. The second will be in enhancing those spaces that improve admissions and retention in an increasingly competitive education world. This may include athletic facilities or research but will be specific to each institution
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Sustainability has reached a tipping point of acceptance within schools and universities as is widely embraced in most design programs. This has greatly increased the amount of daylight brought into every space and focused attention on materials that are green as the materials industry is simultaneously adapting to provide much greater choice in green materials.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Architects McDonald, Soutar & Paz, Inc. (Architects MSP): Edgar J. Paz, AIA, Vice President
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Changes can vary from aesthetic to acoustic, air, light and environmental concerns. The last years have required sustainable, high-performing schools at all fronts, but lately we have been tackling what seems to be a more superfluous, but potentially more impacting, visual issue in our schools: graphics.
Although economic conditions demand pragmatic solutions, and function dictates space requirements, graphics has been approached as a viable solution to revitalize low-performing sites. The package includes colors, symbols and identity to the schools or ‘small learning communities,’ and super-graphics that can promote a rebirth of our educational system.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Technology will play its part. Classrooms, multipurpose areas, media centers, libraries and such will need to tailor to the frantic Internet capabilities. Modern campuses with resources already provide students with the educational experience worth of 21st-century wonder. Connections to the immediate neighbors, adjacent communities and the world provide instant knowledge and awareness; but first we must bring fiber optics, the digital displays, the ability to provide live one-on-one presentations between the classroom and perhaps homes. Sure, the spaces must be "green" and provide the healthy environment required of today’s society, but that will be a minimum.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
People can sense "green" spaces: we can hear, feel, smell and see the difference. The most immediately noticeable feature is lighting--natural daylight complemented with not just energy-efficient, but properly designed artificial systems. Mechanical systems must account for fresh air intake in an efficient and easily controlled manner. Plumbing systems will need to provide for water-conservation measures. The interior products will be specified with earth-saving measure, including production, recycle-ability, and recyclable content. Manufacturers, suppliers and vendors cannot afford to ignore the requests of this environment-conscious society.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Hummel Architects PLLC: Mandy Boam, Interior Designer
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
I see education, in both secondary and higher ed, moving to a more collaborative approach. We are seeing more gathering spaces for classes to meet in a non-traditional way, little alcoves for small groups to meet in the transitional space and larger areas for entire classes to get out of the classroom.
High schools are collaborating more and more with surrounding universities and community colleges to give their students better exposure to higher education. This is apparent in the more upscale “adult” design of high schools, including more classic, neutral finishes and materials that you would see in the business world.
We also see this in a more literal way in the case of one of our latest projects where a renovation included a new magnet high school directly adjacent and linked to a university campus. This gives both schools the opportunity to share a fabulous media center, and the younger students have access to state of the art labs and distance-learning classrooms.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
SHP Leading Design: Carrie Malatesta, IIDA, LEED AP, Senior Interior Designer
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The use of technology has changed educational interiors over the past 20 years. Interior learning environments have become more multifunctional and dynamic to respond to changing teaching styles. The introduction of color, texture and pattern in learning environments has provided students and staff interior spaces that do not feel cold and institutional. Educational facilities are really community buildings. Creating interior educational spaces that reflect the values of the community makes each facility unique.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Educational spaces are going to be more flexible and allow for collaboration and different types of learning environments; individual learning and group learning. The days of the teacher standing at the front of the room lecturing are numbered. This also means that there will be more of a variety of furniture types in lieu of rows of student desks. This will give the student the ability to shape his or her learning environment. I also hope to see the line of interior and exterior learning environments blur. I think providing outdoor learning environments can enable students to return to nature and provide some breathing room from technology overload.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The emergence of sustainability has improved interior educational environments. There are numerous studies out there that show the positive effects daylighting and views have on students and teachers. Sustainability pushes the design team to think more holistically. This is producing better educational environments. Every decision made affects other aspects of the design so more collaboration is going into the design process. This collaboration is producing high-performance buildings, not only in energy savings but also high-performing students and staff.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
DLR Group: Jim French, AIA, REFP, Senior Principal
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
The future is flexibility. Designers will replace hard-walled classrooms with sets of rooms of similar sizes and similar technology systems. This non-specific approach will allow spaces to flex and respond to various demands based upon the needs of the school and curriculum. Today’s students are active learners. Flexible furniture will enhance the learning environment and engage students in learning through movement.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The reality is students are driving the sustainable charge. They are challenging teachers to take a sustainable building design to the next level by encouraging environmental stewardship through curriculum. In response, many districts are implementing components, such as energy monitoring devices and exposed building systems, into the building’s interior design to educate users and community members on the effect of energy usage in their daily environment.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
NAC | Architecture: Greg Stack, AIA, Principal, K-12 Thought Leader
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The biggest change is the new appreciation for the importance of natural light in the interior environment. In the 1970s, as a response to the energy crisis, schools were sealed tight and windows were drastically reduced to avoid heat gain/loss. Exterior views were eliminated to supposedly improve students’ attention. These measures contributed to sick building syndrome and hurt attention spans by eliminating visual relief, and learning suffered. Today, by correctly orienting buildings, shading windows appropriately, and using appropriately reflective interior materials energy issues can be controlled and natural light and views can make a positive difference in the comfort and learning at a school.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Interior education spaces will be evolving to accommodate the increasing use of project-based learning. Both furniture and materials will need to adapt to provide students and teachers with a variety of environments within learning spaces. Hard and soft surface flooring, formal and lounge seating, and a variety of movable casework allowing for agile reconfiguration of spaces will be important. Increasing use of portable electronic devices will require school interiors to provide a variety of interior environments for students to work. The need for portable projection walls, soundproof areas and places for on-line collaboration will occur throughout the school.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Awareness of sustainability issues have made the entire user/designer/builder team more cognizant of the effects of buildings and building materials on the health, comfort and even attention span of students. The use of natural materials helps to limit the volatile compounds that might otherwise be released into the school environment. Natural light helps reduce energy costs and helps people feel better about their surroundings. Increased ventilation decreases carbon-dioxide concentrations, thus improving alertness and learning. In the future, as schools strive to be “net zero” energy users, school interiors will be designed to use light and air even more efficiently.- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
The Geddis Partnership PC: Barbara L. Geddis, FAIA, President
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
There have been incremental changes from within, as well as forced major changes from without.
Before the global recession, we found clients willing to consider non-formulaic solutions for classrooms, lighting, libraries, dining and recreation spaces. Clients were and continue to be focused on understanding the importance of daylighting, glare control and acoustics, and impacts on learning.
The interest in sustainability has developed in the midst of economic crisis. New green materials are not sufficiently tested to ensure maintainability. In public education, there is a high degree of frustration with the marketplace, as well as performance and pricing. Inventions are needed in nearly every area of school construction: flooring, windows, window shading, lighting, wall protection, paint and ceilings.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
There will be a long-needed fundamental and comprehensive retooling of traditional learning spaces because of technology, understanding of lighting, acoustics and impact on learning.
Students need supportive settings for learning that address the distraction, as well as the power, of instant texting and media. Designers need to thoroughly rethink what it will take and how to courageously and creatively be pioneers. This creative and entrepreneurial process will re-emerge stronger after manufacturers merge and change and produce a long-awaited next generation of readily available, affordable and striking materials.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The willingness to use these materials is high, but the depth and quality of the offerings are not yet what we architects and interior designers require. We are in a transition phase where a number of green materials will not stand the test of time, and new materials will be created to fill the void.- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
The Stacy Group: Allison Curran, IIDA, Director of Interiors
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
In the past 20 years, three key factors have influenced the way educational interiors are designed today. Security is paramount, and continuous research and implementation of security measures in many capacities is a must. Wayfinding through the use of signage, color and strategic design elements help navigate students and patrons of all ages through educational facilities. And creating interiors that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but double as learning aids, have also become very important to the design of educational interiors.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Creating adaptive spaces that will support the integration of technology in a much larger capacity than ever before will be at the forefront of designing educational interiors.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
For many years the idea of being green while creating interesting interiors was almost unattainable. As building and finish material manufacturers strive to be more sustainable, a wider selection of materials have become available that don't compromise aesthetic. Such materials as carpet and paint can now be installed while school is in session with little or no effect on indoor air quality due to low voc's and offgasing. Integration of natural daylighting decreases the need for artificial lighting in all spaces of the building, which is one way schools can be more energy-efficient. The need to incorporate greener/sustainable products will continue to grow and become the responsible way to design educational interiors.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Perkins+Will: Michael Kihn, AIA, LEED AP, Principal
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
There have been significant changes in the design of educational interiors over the past two decades. Some of the most substantial include an increasing trend toward group-based and project-based learning; an almost universal interest in and concern for sustainability in facility design and operations; and the ubiquitous use of information and audiovisual technology in learning and research spaces. These changes have resulted in the development of flexible classrooms, labs and informal learning environments; the conservation of natural resources and energy and the design of highly sophisticated, humane, interior environments; and the facilitation of student-to-student as well as teacher-to-student learning and research.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
We will be designing interior education spaces to be enabling mechanisms. In the future, classrooms and other spaces for learning will adapt to changing pedagogies and teaching modes. Academic teaching and research laboratories will exhibit interchangeability and be able to be reconfigured quickly through the use of modular, movable furniture and “plug-and-play” equipment and infrastructure. Building systems will enable individuals to modify and control their immediate environment. Learning spaces will be suffused with controlled natural light. Wireless power and unlimited connectivity will enable learning to occur beyond the classroom – in virtually every building space.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Sustainable design has greatly improved the quality of interior educational space and has enabled individuals and groups to learn more efficiently and effectively. Studies demonstrate that increased natural light, improved indoor air quality and enhanced classroom acoustic characteristics significantly improve student performance in both K-12 and post-secondary facilities. In the future, sustainability will be a sine qua non of educational facility design, holistically influencing both interior space and the building envelope. Educational facilities, including learning tailored interior spaces, will move beyond energy and carbon neutrality and become regenerative in nature, contributing to rather than degrading the quality of the natural environment.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Fanning Howey: Cecilia Durand, Interior Designer/Senior Associate
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The biggest change, by far, is the use of sustainable materials. More of these items are being used within schools – even on projects not pursuing LEED certification. Material preference has shifted to those that are durable and easy to maintain, especially during today's difficult economic times when staffing may need to be kept at a minimum.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Flexibility is key. Administrators are viewing their educational facilities differently than in years past, and the definition of a classroom is evolving. In response, we must design educational spaces to be as flexible as possible – casework and furniture must be mobile and easily reconfigurable. The interiors must be adaptable enough to support ever-changing curriculum and teaching configurations. This concept was showcased at the National Middle School Association's annual conference, where our firm was asked to help design a prototypical 21st-century classroom. Effortless flexibility was made possible thanks to partitions, movable furniture and a wireless access floor.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Besides the obvious environmental-friendliness of sustainable materials, one huge benefit we are seeing is the reduction of allergic reactions to products. As we specify more and more products made from natural or recycled content, we are able to avoid products that tend to give off fumes.
Green design is ever-changing. We will continue to examine all aspects of a space before making final decisions, carefully considering the effect that everything from floors to windows to paint to ceiling types could have on each student and teacher.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Hastings & Chivetta Architects: Adrianne Bellew, LEED AP, NCIDQ, Interior Designer
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The focus on daylighting has created more open spaces, more natural light and increased the importance of the "view." Better air quality has been achieved through the use of materials such as adhesives, sealants, paint and carpet with low VOCs. Energy-efficient lighting and HVAC has resulted in less maintenance of facilities. Natural materials such as wood and stone are used more frequently, and a clean, less cluttered look and feel is desired. Old is new again with the reuse of existing materials within a space such as built-in casework, doors and flooring.
In the future, more demand for green design will translate into a greater variety of products at the designer’s disposal. Owners, occupants and the general public will want to "see the green" when they are in a space and be able to recognize sustainable materials such as cork or bamboo flooring that have been incorporated into everyday use. Designers will have to carefully integrate existing materials into their designs and utilize multipurpose/ collaborative environments to address open spaces.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Parkin Architects Limited: Lynne Wilson Orr, Principal
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The impact of the Internet on educational interiors has taken learning outside the walls of academia and into the real world. The introduction of computers allowing students to take notes, retrieve information and present research in new formats meant an increase in the number of electrical outlets, but the introduction of the Internet into the classroom has required that educational interiors become sophisticated technical learning environments.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
The virtual classroom – students reviewing lectures online in their residence room or the library, students learning hands-on and accessing the classroom while on the job – will become more influential, and true classrooms will morph into virtual reality workshops. Tablets, PDAs and voice-recognition software will enable students to learn anywhere. Educational interiors will be congregation areas where students will interact with instructors, other students and the real-world situations that they are preparing themselves to enter.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Awareness of the impact of indoor air quality on the individual’s ability to absorb information, maintain their interest level and learn in a healthy environment is really just beginning to make an impact on educational interiors. Understanding the long-term effects on the human population of toxic materials will lead to the development of new materials that will create healthy environments that mitigate the effect of viruses and bacteria on learners--such that creating congregation points for students is no longer an invitation to catch the flu!
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
WHR Architects: Marie Hoke, AIA, Project Manager/Senior Designer
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Innovative technology and the way current students interact have been the biggest drivers of change.
Students now have smart phones, laptops, iPods, iPads, etc. They use these devices to stay in constant communication. E-mail enables students to have greater access to their instructors. Instructors can respond to questions at their convenience. Electronic communication has fostered an increased sense of connection between students and faculty. This sense of connection is further encouraged by placing alcoves and stopping points along the path of travel to class.
Incorporating informal meeting areas that enable students and faculty to interact has become increasingly popular. Having spaces flexible enough to accommodate quiet independent study or group collaboration, and placing them in students’ natural travel path has evolved from an amenity to a necessity over the years.
Students are now informed of campuswide events through digital signage. LCD screens located throughout the building have replaced traditional bulletin board communication. Students expect departmental events, class locations, university-wide activities and more to be shared electronically, satisfying their need to feel connected to the larger campus community.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
The influence of innovative technology and greater student participation will continue to shape the future of educational spaces.
Students will have more electronic devices and will need ways to recharge these devices. Providing "instant" charging stations within the building will provide an alternative to powering all desks in a classroom.
Smartboards will enable instructors to project and write on one surface, capture information and send it back to students via email. Students in return can comment on what was sent and continue the discussion outside the confines of the classroom.
Classrooms will become learning spaces rather than teaching spaces, enabling students to give instructors feedback through the use of student response technology. Feedback collected by real-time responses can be used to establish whether students are absorbing what is being taught and adjustments made if necessary.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Students now are very interested in sustainability - they want to be good stewards of their environment. They want to know what the university's commitment is to the environment and whether the buildings on their campus incorporate the use of natural light, sustainable materials and energy efficient strategies. Recycling bins located on every floor of a building and recycling rooms to store the content of these bins are a minimum requirement these days.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
University of Houston, Plant Operations Department: Dave Irvin, Associate Vice Chancellor
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The temptation is to say “technology” is the main driver of change to educational interiors. However, technology was driving classroom design as far back as the invention of the backboard and will drive it long into the future. I think the real change in the past 20 years is a revolution in how students learn and how the workplace operates - from a single learner and a person working in isolation to collaborative learning and team approaches to problem-solving, from classrooms designed for “a sage on the stage” to spaces where integrated students together utilize the latest electronic tools and link minds to tackle complex issues.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Increasingly, the division between online and on-site education will be erased. Economics, accessibility and serving students will accelerate the trend for “hybrid learning” that combines online classes, collaborative projects and learning, and classroom instruction into an educational synthesis that is greater than any of these standing alone. All of this will lead to the need for educational spaces beyond the traditional classroom. Spaces for counseling, group collaboration, student interaction, testing centers to provide progress assessment when students want it, and technical resources to help learners utilize the coming “Internet cloud.”
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The current focus on LEED, carbon footprints and the technology of “green” obscures a simple fact: in many ways sustainability is getting back to what designers of educational interiors in the 1800s knew (which we forgot in the 1900s and are rediscovering): daylight helps learning; good, well-designed spaces and environments linked to nature foster education; and the best design is design that respects people and links us to the world around us.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Purple Cherry Architects: Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED AP, Owner/Founder
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The biggest change in educational settings in the past 20 years has been the development and integration of technology in our school settings. This has enabled students to access tremendous amounts of information as well as share information faster. In addition, technology has provided new ways for students to develop graphics and media presentations that did not exist before.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Educators have begun to think of the classroom environment as the third teacher. They have become aware of how their individual classroom can be set up to welcome children (“the welcoming classroom”) and provide various teaching opportunities within the single classroom. With this new way of thinking, designer professionals have begun to provide environments that are intended to stimulate the five senses of the students and provide new opportunities for social development. They have also begun to integrate nature and natural light for sustainability reasons as well as environmental reasons.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The emergence of “green” has changed the materials that are being used within new school buildings to be eco-friendly. This has led to more thoughtful spaces with strong connections to nature. As well, the systems of the school buildings are being developed to provide long term energy savings and opportunities to further educate students to environmental concerns.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
BCDM: Apryl Link, IIDA Interior Design Coordinator
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Teaching methods have evolved, creating a collaborative and interactive learning experience for students. Educational interiors have become more adaptable to support this approach to teaching. This is accommodated by using flexible furnishings, technology and spaces organized to encourage collaboration and along with it, support good behavior, attitudes and achievement of goals.
Rooms are being designed to house and secure furnishings, display tools and technology. Teachers and students should be able to rearrange the furniture but not walk out the door with it!
These learning environments must nurture and speak to the students, fostering their curiosity, and encouraging their growth. Use of color is also used in classrooms and other collaborative spaces as a stimulus for young minds.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey: Donald Ellis Moore, Associate Vice President for Operations
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Interiors these days are being designed to have more transparency from space to space, allowing one to witness the academic process from the outside of the actual classroom. Flexibility of a space is now much more prominent since academic institutions are becoming more flexible in their academic offerings, and balancing them against declining availability of capital investment funds. As institutional pedagogical offerings evolve so must also the ability for facility professionals to deliver spaces that readily support such evolution, but at a reasonable cost.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
The future of the interior educational space must consider the media used to educate our students. Rapidly changing message-delivery systems via laptops, cell phones, blogs, texting and now iPad, demonstrate an ever- evolving need to be flexible on special support. The need for academic space to be built with capacity to support these and evolving systems is critical. Facilities without walls or with walls that are movable, and spaces that have support for mobile electronic devices as well as Internet use will be the only way that the space can meet the needs of the present as well as the future without having to incur substantial capital investment costs. Allow for classrooms to be wherever a group happens to be standing or seated.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
To support green/sustainability, interior spaces must be managed and operated with minimal manufactured energy, natural instead of manufactured lighting, reduction of heat gain by using passive shading devices/systems, and ground-source heating and cooling being considered while designing such spaces. Buildings will be designed to be used as operating laboratories and test beds for sustainable products to learn from. They will be designed to become passively and organically sustainable with less attention drawn to moving parts that highlight electronics, building automation systems, and other devices to modulate energy consumption and to promote sustainability. Buildings will be self performing with less human interaction, a “smart” building, with integrated materials and systems that will detect relative changes within and outside of it and independently respond to minimize its own environmental impact.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Urbahn Architects: Peter R. Verne, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Associate
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
One of the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years is the influx of technology into the classroom. In a world in which lecture graphics are automatically loaded to an ftp site and students type notes on their laptops, designers must consider the impact to classroom systems at the earliest stages. This effort is complicated by the long time between envisioning a space, and its actual construction and operation. Rather than focus on equipment, infrastructure must be flexible to accommodate evolving technologies, as well as differing teaching techniques. Like pedagogy, the only constant of classroom technology is that it is sure to change.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
The decreasing cost of technology and the increased focus on pedagogic flexibility suggest that future education space will have multiple electronic displays (flatscreen or projected) and writing surfaces situated around the room’s perimeter. Furniture will be sturdy yet lightweight to ease reconfiguring for traditional teaching or small-group interaction. This flexibility will be further supported by zoned, indirect lighting and a grid of power and data connections in floor boxes set beneath carpet tile.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
While educational designers have for decades understood the value of natural daylighting in the learning environment, the increased awareness of sustainable practices and the imperative for energy efficiency have made concrete what was a largely ineffable benefit. This presents new challenges for the designers of interior education space, who must balance the benefit of natural lighting against the proliferation of projected and flat-screen displays in the classroom. As with technology infrastructure, the key to implementing sustainable practices is to ensure that such practices allow for different and evolving teaching techniques.- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Dore & Whittier Architects, Inc.: Don Walter, AIA, NCARB, Vice President
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The biggest changes are environmentally sustainable designs that accommodate project-based learning, team-teaching and student collaboration. Characteristics include planning spaces to facilitate the process; flexible learning spaces to serve more than one function at a time and accommodate more than one group at a time; integration of powerful and adaptable technology to provide learners and teacher-advisers with access to the tools (markerboards/smartboards, computers and laptop carts, projectors) to reach the world outside the classroom and all of its knowledge, information and wonder; sustainability/environmental comfort that is conducive to learning with well-controlled climate, abundant natural light and ventilation, acoustics, and low VOC/recycled materials.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
The line between the traditional classroom and the office or workplace may begin to blur as learners engage in project and Web-based learning outside the classroom and more adults seek to “re-train” themselves for a career change or to continue their education in their chosen field. Classrooms may become more like conference rooms that are designed for varying numbers of learners and serve multiple purposes. The trend toward less departmentalization may continue as specialized art and science labs are replaced by wet/dry labs that are incorporated in a cluster with “classrooms.” Hands-on learning can take place where the theoretical concepts are presented.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
There is a real consciousness in sustainability that has carried into schools at even the earliest grades. As interiors are designed, each space will continue to further integrate sustainable features including day and indirect lighting and natural ventilation, efficient thermal envelopes, low VOC/recycled materials, alternate energy sources, greater efficiency of water use, etc. Also, classrooms will utilize both the building and the natural environment as teaching tools to enforce sustainable concepts at all ages. It is foreseeable that many of these features will be enforced by governing parties for all new construction and major renovation work in the future in order to obtain any funding assistance.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Harding Partners: Paul A. Harding, FAIA, Partner
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Education facilities have evolved from rigid instructor-based environments to responsive student-driven learning environments. As curricula have diversified to support multiple learning styles, school design has adapted to support various types of learning activities. Fixed rows of desks have been replaced with flexible workcenters and isolated classrooms have been linked with group project rooms and collaboration spaces. Information technology has altered the classroom environment to support digital learning. Computers have increased space requirements as well as power and data infrastructure needs. Completely new spaces such as computer labs and server rooms are now required. A more subtle impact of technology is in the design of the environmental conditions of a classroom. Computer modeling enables architects to design spaces with ample daylight while also limiting solar heat gain and glare.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Learning environments will become increasingly responsive to the culture of the communities they serve. The broad culture of various ethnic groups is becoming integrated into the form, color and artwork in schools. The everyday culture of a neighborhood is changing as community members are encouraged to use school facilities after hours. Joint-use projects bring the larger community into the building to access information, meeting space and educational programs. Some schools are choosing to be a portal to social services such as medical care, job training and adult-education programs lacking in economically challenged neighborhoods. Art, recreation and social activities of today’s youth will shape the classroom as they become integrated into the curriculum. Digital video and music production, computer animation and graphic design are tools that will be used to present lessons in math and reading as well as art programs. Recreational activities such as climbing walls and skate parks will be integrated into the physical-education program.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Sustainable design has made school interiors more supportive learning environments. Daylight harvesting brings the positive physiological effect of natural light into the physical experience of students. Students with access to the full spectrum of daylight perform better in class, are healthier, and exhibit better behavior. The use of low-VOC emitting finishes and adhesives has reduced the amount of respiratory irritants in schools. In the future, sustainable buildings will also contribute directly to the educational experience. Outdoor spaces that provide access to daylight and fresh air will also be used as exterior classrooms. The daily and seasonal position of the sun is easily monitored in a simple courtyard. Planting beds provide an outdoor laboratory to explore plant biology, photosynthesis and the interaction of the various natural cycles.- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
PBK: Darrick Jahn, Associate, and Greg Louviere, AIA, IIDA, Senior Designer
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Over the past 20 years there has been a paradigm shift from the traditional “four wall” classroom to educational spaces that are equipped for 21st-century learning. This shift can be attributed to two primary factors: the integration of technology as a learning tool and changes in learning style. The continual integration and advancement of technology in the classroom and the learning style change from a static “teacher-centered” classroom to a dynamic “learner-centered” environment require multiple furniture and spatial reconfigurations for digital access and facilitated student interaction. With the increasing need to provide flexibility and digital utilization as teaching tools, traditional formal classroom settings and rigid instructional environments have not fully provided the adaptability needed for an increasingly dynamic collaborative learning environment.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Based upon changes over the previous 20 years, there will be a continual shift from a static to a dynamic “learner-centered” environment. Future success of this dynamic education environment lies in the continual re-evaluation of a space’s adaptation to technological advances and the promotion of rich, diverse learning activities. In our future, a classroom’s technology will lead as a contributive factor in education and the interior education space should provide greater opportunities for its spatial and infrastructure’s adaptation. Also, more consideration and spatial allocation shall be given to areas for interactive study and group collaboration where students may engage simultaneous roles as teacher, active participant and “hands-on” learner.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
First and foremost, an increased sensitivity to the selection, use and installation of appropriate materials that exhibit sustainable features has been mutually shared by product manufactures, designers, contractors and clients. This has led to the production and increased availability of materials that are formed from recycled contents as well as ones that can be easily recycled or repurposed for future use. This trend includes developing products with a “green” aesthetic through a naturalist quality in texture, substance, color and pattern. Along with the product trend there is the increasing focus on the use of filtered daylight. The use of daylighting methods has reoriented many spaces, defined the positioning of windows, reflective walls and the use of window treatments as lighting control.- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Dennis Mires, PA, The Architects: Dennis B. Mires, AIA, President
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The obvious biggest changes in education interiors have been a result of technology’s role and evolution in the learning process. It has influenced the way spaces are articulated, the way electrical and mechanical systems are handled and the way furniture design has responded.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
In addition to the critical specification and evaluation of material selections, the balance between daylighting and the flexibility in controlling artificial lighting to facilitate technology continues to evolve. With the range of different learning styles, the responsiveness of electrical and mechanical systems to change in occupancy is critical to more sustainable solutions.- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Saphire + Albarran Architecture LLC: Joseph E. Saphire, AIA, Principal
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
The biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years are the changes that have occurred to learning itself, which has had a direct bearing on space design. We are in a digital age, and the prototypical classroom must respond to and accommodate new media and new technologies. Students and teachers are accustomed to seeing media in a much different setting than the typical 24-foot by 36-foot classroom. The quality of audio and visual stimuli needs to be consistent with the day-to-day experiences. There are teaching techniques, for example block scheduling, that require students to spend longer time periods in the classrooms, requiring the design to be more flexible to accommodate a greater range of activities and programs.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
The future of interior education space design will more and more lean toward digital learning. I foresee the elimination of textbooks, more Web-based seminars and learning experiences that will hopefully result in more exciting interior environments of rich textures and color that will help maintain focus and concentration.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
We have been designing energy-efficient buildings for more than 30 years now, when the first energy crisis came to this country. With the emergence of sustainable/green design, the built environment is once again focused on strategic siting, natural ventilation and natural lighting to save energy. The use of green products is now the norm. I enjoy that we are returning the designing of buildings to the site as the primary form giver as this practice should eliminate cookie-cutter schools.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Treanor Architects, PA: Audrie K. Wenger, IIDA, Director of Interior Design
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Twenty years ago the proportion of a student’s time spent listening and sitting to a lecture was much greater in comparison with today. Problem-solving, hands-on learning, independent study and working in teams are preferred in current teaching environments. It would be difficult to find any school building more than five years old with every space utilized as originally intended. For buildings more than 20 years old, it might be impossible. We must create school buildings poised for change, adaptability and flexibility.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
The development of formal and informal learning environments are now being integrated into projects that maximize student interconnectivity and strike a balance between vibrant interactive social environments along with private places for students to study, multipurpose spaces that offer informal instruction, and meeting spaces for student groups and educators to work together. We need to direct our focus away from current practices and needs, and become futurists in our thinking. The biggest challenge is to anticipate the needs for the future.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The emergence of sustainable products, applications and green design choices are plentiful in the marketplace, and these products have given way to new design approaches and details. Being able to integrate sustainable products enables interior spaces to teach, integrate and help students learn about sustainability, how to be respectful of the environment and how they can support environmental responsibility. Sustainability creates an environment of interest, one that is energetic, vibrant, alive and full of choices.- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
EwingCole: Don M. Jones, AIA, LEED AP, Principal/Director of Sustainable Design; Charles Rudalavage, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Higher Education Practice; Gayle S. Lane, IIDA, LEED AP, Principal, Director of Interior Design
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
A generation ago, for the average academic building, the emphasis in interior finish for academic buildings was durability and longevity over most other considerations, including aesthetics. While there are plenty of examples of signature designs from that era, there are many well-built, yet mundane spaces still in use. Over the past few years, as with most institutional clients, colleges and universities have seen the need to compete for the best and most qualified students by offering higher quality facilities for housing (and more living options), recreation centers, classrooms and laboratories. Finish and furnishing, while still required to meet the tough demands of the student environment and the budget of the institution, must be of the highest visual and aesthetic quality possible. (Don M. Jones, AIA, LEED AP)
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Given the current economic climate and “slow recovery” economic forecast for the next few years, universities are challenged to provide more “learning per square foot” than at any time in recent history. A shortage of funding has required collegiate clients to find ways to reinvigorate and reuse existing assets through strategic renovations, as opposed to ground-up new building projects. Savvy students, and particularly their parents who pay the ever-increasing tuition bills, demand that the physical environment, both interior and exterior, at a university, match the high cost of education. Creative schools, and their designers, will find ways to exceed these expectations without breaking the bank. (Charles Rudalavage, AIA, LEED AP)
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Sustainable design has changed the shape of interior space. Focus has been placed on reducing energy consumption which in turn demands efficiency in the allocation and use of space in a building. Flexible, adaptable multi-use spaces answer this need along with the planning of effective program spaces – sized right for the function they support. The materials utilized to finish interior space have also changed to respond to sustainability. Selection of materials is more often being made based on the life-cycle cost of a product. This takes into consideration how the raw materials are being extracted, the use of recycled materials, how the product is manufactured, the distance that the product needs to be transported to the project site, how the product, once installed, is maintained (chemicals used, labor needed) and finally, when the product is at the end of its usefulness, how is it disposed or recycled. All of these elements, when assessed, can lead to a longer-lived, less costly and healthier environment. The eventual evidence of long-term cost savings will only further the implementation and refinement of these practices. (Gayle S. Lane, IIDA, LEED AP)
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Jack Ball and Associates Architects, PC: J. Christopher Ball, AIA, President
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years? Interior spaces have become more versatile with rapidly changing curriculums and a more active approach to education and interaction between students and their teachers and environment. Studies are showing evidence that the efficiency of interior layouts, colors, materials, acoustics, access to natural light, and proper ventilation are all significant influences on a student’s learning environment, and indirectly affect their attendance and success.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Interior education space will transform into workable areas that enable creativity and exploration with curriculum and education. Students will be instructed as young adults in an attempt to strengthen their minds, work ethic and response to education. More natural light and flexible light levels will be required because of the drastic increase in the use of technology and multimedia devices. There will be an even greater effort put forth to make learning spaces (or schools as a whole) a comfortable place for students to occupy.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The sustainable movement has quantified elements of building design that contribute to high-performance interior spaces; they make it easier to listen, pay attention, work together, etc. The increased use of natural light doesn’t just use less electricity; it provides a comfortable space that changes the appearance of the room and the way the user experiences the space. Sustainable products are often recycled, but also provide less VOCs and other less quantifiable benefits.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Goodwyn Mills & Cawood, Inc.: Jacquelyn Hart, IIDA, AIA, LEED AP, Design Operations Director
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Technology has fundamentally changed the classroom. Endless resources are available digitally. Each year we find new ways to bring those resources to the hands and eyes of the students and teachers.
Our cultural attitude toward children has shifted. Increasingly, we believe our children, at any age, deserve better than the once-common neutral institutional environment. Our increasing awareness and expectation of their capacity to learn is infinitely greater. How our students feel in their environment impacts how they learn. The best schools are essentially well- planned with age-appropriate scale and design elements.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Technology will continue to change. Information technology and educational tools change much faster than building technology. Interior education spaces must be designed to be flexible and functional far beyond the current information technology trends.
Not only will technology in educational tools change, but technology in building materials and systems will also change. Future schools will perform at increasingly higher levels of energy efficiency.
For example, improvements in the technology of glass and wall systems will facilitate the presence of daylight into schools. The design of interior spaces will have a greater impact on the exterior design – more of an “inside-out” design approach.
As the design of the building envelope increasingly “comes inside” and the interior design “goes outside” architects and interior designers, with their clients, will have to understand and develop systems that work together to save energy and create flexible adaptable spaces where students will thrive.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The sustainability movement has blessed us with daylight. Studies show students perform better in daylight environments. It is my hope we will see fewer and fewer schools with massive windowless corridors, virtually windowless classrooms and prison-like spaces. With daylight a primary consideration, interior architecture will become increasingly more dynamic.
A key benefit of designing sustainable buildings is life-cycle cost savings. Our schools should last longer, perform better and have significant cost savings over time. Interior designers and architects will continue to push product manufacturers to develop better systems, materials and products that are not only aesthetically desirable, but durable, sustainable and easily maintained.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
REES Associates, Inc.: Patrick Bumpas, AIA, Vice President
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
A departure from the double-loaded windowless corridors of pure institutional scale and appearance. Institutions have embraced a higher level of finish and attention to detail as a path toward a more productive learning environment.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
We are already seeing movement toward a multi-platformed learning space incorporated integration of multimedia, human contact and independent study while maximizing connectivity to every stratum of resources available to students.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
The primary change noticeable to students and teachers alike is the quality of natural lighting and interior comfort from modern mechanical systems. Additionally, we find that many of the sustainable materials are pleasing to interface with from the human perspective.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Clark Nexsen Architecture and Engineering: Robert T. Gunn, AIA, LEED AP, Principal
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Technology, pedagogy, and sustainability are the three largest changes over the last 20 years. Technology has revolutionized the learning environment with the advent of the Internet, local on-campus intranets, and the devices to access them ranging from wireless laptops to iPods and iPhones. Pedagogy has also changed from the “sage on the stage” to the “guide on the side,” and learning is more group-oriented, where the instructor is more of a facilitator than teacher. This requires more flexibility of furniture and infrastructure (power, data and lighting) in the classroom. Sustainability is a major change that is influencing everything from daylighting and operable windows to HVAC controls and finish materials.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
More of the same trends we have seen over the last 20 years, with richer, more robust and flexible technology, increased student participation in the pedagogical process, and more sustainable strategies. Spaces outside the classroom will become more active as small group gathering spaces for learning, as cyber cafes and larger public spaces are used for informal student/student and student/faculty gatherings.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Daylighting in classrooms is more important than ever in sustainable classrooms, and control of glare or direct sunlight through motorized shades, light shelves and/or blinds are becoming big factors in classroom design. Floor, wall and ceiling finishes are being made of sustainable materials and installed with low VOC adhesives. Views to the outside through classrooms and seminar rooms are becoming a requirement for LEED certification rather than a luxury. Furniture is being made with sustainable materials and is focusing on durability, comfort and ergonomics.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
MVE Institutional, Inc.: Robert Puleo, Associate IIDA, Director of Interiors
What are the biggest changes in educational interiors over the past 20 years?
Educational interiors are becoming less institutional in their appeal. We are experiencing a trend toward creating environments that are more residential in character with warmer colors and materials, such as carpet vs. linoleum. We are also finding that interior spaces can become eclectic with their own individual appeal and need not be regimented in their fit and finish throughout the project.
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
We see an emerging trend toward creating flexible spaces that can adapt to the changing requirements of the curriculum and the teaching style of the instructor. We have found that one size doesn’t fit all and that promoting flexible spaces that are equipped with the latest information technology promotes creative and innovative teaching platforms.
How has the emergence of green/sustainability changed the interior space, and how will it continue to affect the way interiors are designed?
Both our clients and our students are becoming more and more aware of green building practices and are expecting us to implement these practices in our normal course of business. Not only are we using products that feature recycled content and can be recycled, but we are implementing low-VOC-emitting materials, adhesives and sealants throughout the classroom and into the specification of furnishings as well. Additionally, smart lighting using direct/indirect energy-efficient lamps complemented by an intelligent use of natural light with reflective light shelves has helped to reduce energy costs. In California, we are implementing large, slow-moving ceiling fans and air scoops to eliminate the need for central air conditioning.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
Integrated Design Solutions: Ann Green, IIDA, Senior Associate/Manager, Interior Design Services
What do you see as the future of the interior education space in the next few years?
Interior educational spaces are undergoing a major paradigm shift as new technologies are added to the learning environment. We will see technology transform the geometry of the classroom, the way classrooms are configured, and the way material is presented to students. No longer will every classroom be structured for a stand-and-deliver presentation from the instructor. The technology that students use everyday such as iPhones, Facebook and YouTube will find niches in the learning environment. Educational spaces will demand flexibility to adapt to collaborative learning styles. Students will thrive in well-designed spaces that will provide each student an opportunity to discover their optimal learning style.
- Return to the 2010 Educational Interiors Showcase 20 Years of Interiors main page to view more responses.
