Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Schools In Focus: Rethinking Higher Ed Spaces

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 08/12/20

Schools In Focus is a Spaces4Learning podcast dedicated to K-12 and higher ed design, planning, and management. Each episode will feature a conversation with industry experts, facility managers, architects, and thought leaders on topics related to educational facilities. Catch up on previous episodes here.

Today's episode is about the challenges higher ed institutions are facing as they reopen.

Schools In Focus, Episode 5: Rethinking Higher Ed Spaces

Schools In Focus Podcast logo and Stu Rothenberger's headshot 

It’s August and the countdown to the start of the fall semester is fast approaching. Colleges and universities across the country have been working hard on their reopening plans, incorporating a mix of online and in-person learning.

I spoke with Stu Rothenberger who leads DLR Group’s Global Higher Education Studio. His team talked to over 85 higher ed institutions and discussed their concerns and questions about reopening in the fall. Stu shared some of their findings with Spaces4Learning and how DLR Group is rethinking higher ed spaces in the process.

“A lot of the issues that came to light really weren’t created by COVID-19, but COVID-19 put a tremendous spotlight on them," Stu says about the issues institutions are encountering.

We discussed flexibility on a campus scale, the need for long-term resiliency plans, tackling equity issues, and creating smaller interaction spaces in a post-COVID19 learning environment.

Where to Listen

Schools In Focus is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher. Subscribe today, or listen below!

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • TCU Marks Campus Expansion Milestone

    Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a topping-out ceremony to mark progress on a major campus expansion effort including four new residential facilities and a five-story parking garage, according to a news release.

  • Wyoming District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    Laramie County School District #1 in Cheyenne, Wy., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the upcoming Mountain View Elementary School, according to a news release. The facility has an estimated completion date of summer 2028, and it will have the capacity for 650 students in fifth and sixth grade.

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.