The brand of a college or university is more than its logo or tagline. It is an accumulation of experiences for students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members. This fall, fewer students will be on campuses and they may be there with less frequency. COVID-19 will not last forever, but in a way, this year is a glimpse into the online…

The online catalog, commercial discovery layers, the open Web, and books available for browsing in libraries all aid in the process of discovery of resources. An absence of books means one fewer discovery method available. It is important, therefore, that libraries retain physical books in open stacks to offer communities a hands-on opportunity to…

The quality of education suffers when pedagogies are not aligned with physical learning spaces. For example, the architecture of the triple-decker Victorian schools across England fits the information transmission model that was dominant in the industrial age, but makes it more difficult to implement student-centred pedagogies that better fit a…

School districts across North America are facing a crushing dilemma: invest millions of dollars to maintain outdated, educationally ineffective buildings or seek funding for expensive renovations, additions, and new construction to meet the evolving needs of today's learners. Compounding the issue is deferred facility maintenance. Educational…

Many school and college campuses are like small cities--they offer a little bit of everything. Although academic buildings and residence halls account for a sizable percentage of the facilities on a campus, the academic community on a school campus can include other buildings with specialized design and performance needs: laboratories,…

School design has developed into a specialized area in the interior design field. When considering candidates for a school or university project, education institutions should move beyond a prospective designer's resume of experience and accomplishments in order to get a better handle on what to expect when working together. This article offers…

Making furniture decisions can involve many factors, and they vary from institution to institution. For fixtures, furnishings and equipment, comparing initial cost with the cost of ownership over a life cycle can be more challenging. It may be the functionality of the furnishings that provides the greatest return on investment. In this article,…

Designing break-the-mold classrooms--learning spaces that depart dramatically from traditional classrooms--comes with increased risk, especially when the design will be replicated multiple times within a new building. One way to reduce risk is to build a life-size mock-up classroom before making final design decisions. This can help faculty better…

While some Olympic results don't leave room for argument, scoring other events such as gymnastics, is subjective. So much so that in 2006, the "Code of Points" and the entire scoring system were overhauled. It is the same with school design. One might think it would be nice to have a "Code of Points," so that every education institution could…

This article presents the profiles of the jury of this year's Educational Interiors Showcase competition. David Magida has served as Chief Administrator at Norwich University for 15 years. Frank Sever is currently serving as the supervisor of buildings, grounds & equipment department of the Mayfield City School District. Charles A. Wilson III, a…

"It's what's on the inside that counts"--at least when it comes to "American School & University's" (AS&U's) annual Educational Interiors Showcase competition. Each May, "AS&U" assembles at its Overland Park, Kansas headquarters a jury made up of education and architectural professionals from across the country to pore over an array of exceptional…

The opportunity to design a learning space does not come along often. Usually, it involves the construction of a new building or the complete remodel of an old one, and both of these require a lot of money. Smaller projects, such as renovation of a single room or a defined space, can be the best way to test ideas and establish a model for…

At Santa Clara University (SCU), Vice Provost for Information Services and CIO Ron Danielson led the design and construction of the campus's 194,251-square-foot Harrington Learning Commons, Sobrato Technology Center, and Orradre Library, a single building opened in March 2008. Danielson and his team were responsible for describing design goals,…

The design and implementation of technology can prove a particularly daunting challenge for campus planners and project designers. Specialization is required for the selection and implementation of technologies including the familiar network, telecommunications, and data-processing functions, and also the more esoteric emerging technology labs and…

Using three examples, illustrates how interior design for schools is moving away from an institutional appearance, using ideas, such as a main street/neighborhood look and student art work. Schools described are Ft. Recovery Elementary/Middle School in Ft. Recovery, Ohio; Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, Michigan; and Ocotillo…