21st Century Learning Environments

Educational furniture and furnishing have been pretty standard throughout the decades. Most of us can remember individual desks with writing surfaces in each of our classrooms, perfectly lined in rows, with the teacher at the front of the classroom. There was a messy chalkboard, a bookshelf for the teacher's favorites, and possibly a mobile projector that was moved from classroom to classroom. Not much fun.

If you haven't been to a K-12 or higher education facility in quite some time, things are changing. I recently read an article in American School and University magazine that influenced me to write my blog today. In the article, they discuss how creating an environment for today's student is much different than it was a decade ago. The learning environment, as well as the workplace, has greatly changed because of technology. No longer does a student have to sit in a single desk for 8 hours a day listening to the teacher at the front of the classroom.  The way a student learns and how a teacher teaches is changing in the 21st Century.

Are your educational environments evolving with the student? We find there needs to be communication between the student, faculty, facilities, architects and designers. This conversation must be had to see how each teach, learn, and study. Once this conversation has been had, the architects and designers can better understand how the space needs to function, which in turn allows furniture to easily fall into place.

Classrooms are not the only place to consider when thinking about educational design. There are common areas, meeting spaces, libraries, labs, cafe's, offices, and reception areas. Each have their own challenges, but who doesn't love a challenge? Classrooms need to support a variety of activities. A single classroom can be a lecture hall, a small group learning environment and a large group learning environment. Common areas need to spark conversations and interaction. These spaces can be game rooms, quite study areas, or common lounge areas. Meeting spaces are more collaborative and serve several different purposes. Libraries are no longer a place for quite reading. They house collaborative group activities and serve as the technology hub for most students. Cafe's have bar height tables and booth configurations. Faculty and Administration offices are becoming more warm and welcoming.

Most college graduates are looking for the next "google" type environment to work at. The new workforce wants their work environment to be flexible, not only with time spent in and out of the workplace, but also flexible and adaptable spaces. They want furniture that moves easily and creates privacy or collaboration when needed.

There are some key trends in the Education Furniture Market with some basic general requirements. These include furniture to be durable & maintainable, healthy & safe, quite & comfortable, and lastly affordable & sustainable. Functionality must always be considered in any design. Lastly, aesthetics also play a major role with educational design. Color and textures used throughout learning environments can help students feel a sense of identity and creativity.

For more on this topic, please check out one of our furniture partners, Kimball Office, and a recent white paper they co-published called Classroom of the Future, A White Paper By PBK Architects and Kimball Office.