Features


The Berkner STEM Exploration Center features flexible and adaptable spaces.

First Look: Berkner STEM Exploration Center

When students return to school at Richardson Independent School District near Dallas, Texas, they will be able to utilize a brand-new state-of-the-art STEM facility that is open to all K-12 students in the district. Designed by Perkins and Will, the Berkner STEM Exploration Center was created for students of all ages.

Caption: Single leaf sliding doors support North Creek High School’s (NCHS) collaborative culture in Bothell, Washington. Credit: © Chris Eden / edenphotography.us

Collaborative Design Through the Lens of Interior Sliding Doors

In Bothell, Washington, Dykeman, Inc. worked with the Northshore School District to create a flexible, innovative learning center for 1,600 students centered on collaboration. They incorporated state-of-the-art interior single leaf sliding doors and hardware into eight "collaboration cubes" to pave the way for project-based and problem-based group learning, without compromising design.

A custodian cart in front of a white wall.

Combating Coronavirus: Resources on Cleaning and Sanitizing Schools

<em>Spaces4Learning</em> has several resources on best practices for cleaning and sanitizing schools and maintaining healthy schools during peak flu season, which can be applied to the coronavirus. Here you'll find our top articles and a webinar on the subject to help you combat the spread of coronavirus.

Schools In Focus Podcast logo and Todd Ferking, principal at DLR Group

Schools In Focus Podcast: 2020 Education Design Trends

In this episode, Todd Ferking of DLR Group talks about education design that is geared toward the future.

child distant learning on laptop

Moving to K-12 Digital Learning Fast: Where to Start

As coronavirus changes life as we know it, these education experts offer advice on how to make the transition to online instruction.

windmills

To Push the Envelope on Sustainability, Push the Envelope

Architects continue to design buildings much the same way they always have; yet, a carbon-free future will require new practices, namely true, front-loaded integrative design.

parking payment stations at exit

Frictionless Parking: Promoting Campus Public Health During This Pandemic

Frictionless parking can promote public health by dramatically reducing the number of common touch-points within a garage or parking lot.

workers on lift cleaning windows

From Cradle to Grave: The Cost of a Building

When a system shows signs of failing, what is the most cost-effective course of action an owner should take? Does the owner replace the system or close the facility?

outdoor learning water play space

Learning Potential in the Outdoors

For students of all ages, carefully planned outdoor learning areas and features can become an integral component of education.

custodian cleaning wall

COVID-19 and The Custodial Training Component

Issues impacting the ability and training of cleaning contractors vary in different settings and situations. However, all of them must be overcome, and urgently, if we are going to get on top of the COVID-19 situation.

cleaning hand rails on staircase

Pandemic Response: Protecting Custodial Workers

Custodial workers must modify cleaning practices and behaviors to help reduce COVID-19 risks, not only for a building’s occupants, but especially for themselves.

Pathfinder Kindergarten Center: photo ©Chris Roberts, courtesy of DLR Group

K-12 Design Trends to Watch in 2020

Just as Winston Churchill once said, “we shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us,” designers must consider how education environments of the next decade will shape student behavior.

Children using tools like a screwdriver to tinker with a robot on a table.

Design Trends Influencing STEM Education

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are crucial parts of today's curriculum. When it comes to maximizing learning outcomes, many schools focus on the equipment and technology available. However, design also has a significant impact.

Despite the name, panic buttons are designed to take the panic out of a situation. As instincts kick in, a trained employee can have direct and easy access to alert or summon people for help quickly and discreetly with the push of a button.

Taking the Panic Out of Panic Buttons

Despite the name, panic buttons are designed to take the panic out of a situation. As instincts kick in, a trained employee can have direct and easy access to alert or summon people for help quickly and discreetly with the push of a button.

The new culinary lab at Downers Grove South. Each lab contains six large work stations that look like kitchen islands that faces a teacher demonstration station at the head of the class.

High School Culinary Makerspaces Draw Inspiration From TV Food Shows

Community High School District 99, located just outside of Chicago, is harnessing foodie culture to revamp culinary arts facilities at two of their high schools — Downers Grove North and Downers Grove South.

Spaces4Learning recently launched Schools In Focus, a podcast spotlighting K-12 school design, planning and management.

Introducing Schools In Focus Podcast

<em>Spaces4Learning</em> recently launched a podcast focused on K-12 school design, planning and management.

audio visual

3 Ways AV Can Draw People to Campus

Today’s audiovisual experiences reflect a digital world that strongly appears to tomorrow's higher education students.

timber building

Constructing Community

The largest mass timber building in America, Adohi Hall at the University of Arkansas, exemplifies a new generation of wood-framed and light-filled residence halls designed to foster connections.

K-12 building design

Innovative K–12 Design Inspired by Innovative Curriculum

The first of its kind in the state of Arizona, the Dove Mountain CSTEM K–8 School is setting a precedent as a school of choice, defining the future of school design.

gears

Bundling Auxiliary Services

There is opportunity to better deliver on your institution’s mission. A new approach to the organization of service lines involves bundling the outsourcing of auxiliaries work.