Planning & Design


Nebraska to Open Boys Town Education Center

The village of Boys Town, Neb., recently announced that the Boys Town Education Center has opened its doors to students in time for the fall 2023 semester, a news release reports. The town is a National Historic Landmark and serves as the headquarters of Boys Town, one of the largest non-profit childcare organizations in the U.S.

San Diego Neighborhood Debuts New TK–12 Campus

Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced the completion of the Logan Memorial Education Campus in the Logan Heights area of San Diego, Calif., according to a news release.

Georgia District Plans K–12 Complex

The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) recently updated the public on the construction of a new K–12 Multi-School Campus in Garden City, Ga., according to local news. The facility will have the capacity for about 2,400 students and will welcome students from Groves High School, Mercer Middle School, and Gould Elementary School.

Case Study: Modernizing a 1960s L.A. School with Biophilic Design

The client was Grover Cleveland Charter High School, part of the Los Angeles Unified School District in Los Angeles, Calif. The challenge, modernizing a 1960s-era, single-story school to double its square footage to accommodate additional students and to follow biophilic design goals that would benefit students and foster collaboration and social interaction.

Bringing STEAM to Life in the K–12 Classroom

What if you could apply crucial STEAM concepts in a way that engages students like never before?

Designing Learning Spaces for Generation Alpha

Generation Alpha is the class of digital natives born after 2010—currently learning, exploring, and growing in PK–12 environments. What makes them different than past generations of learners? Technology has been ingrained into them as part of their childhoods.

Every Student Can Be a “Math Person” with the Right Curriculum

Enjoying math is just like enjoying a sport; it works better if you are doing it with other people. And learning math is like learning a sport; you learn by doing it, not by watching somebody else do it.

Designing for Neurodiversity: Leveraging Research to Create Spaces for All Learners

Interior design is often considered an art, but it’s also very much a science—especially when it comes to designing for neurodiverse populations.

Aligning Learning Space Design with 5 NAEYC Program Standards

When designing early childhood learning environments, it’s important to consider research, development, and the input of experts and educators to determine what is important to help children thrive in these learning spaces. The NAEYC standards are a great foundation to guide the decisions you make in your learning space design in order to support students’ learning and development.

Terra Linda High School Innovation

3 Adaptable Spaces We’ll See More of in Schools

Learning is untethered, spontaneous, and technology-rich, and schools are reshaping themselves to facilitate nimble and adaptable approaches to education. As we look to the future of schools, here are three flexible spaces we’ll see more of.

Francis Tuttle Technology Center: Danforth Campus

The Francis Tuttle Technology Center, one of the premier career training schools in Oklahoma, enlisted architecture and design firm Bockus Payne in the creation of the Francis Tuttle Danforth Campus in Edmond, Okla.

Schools In Focus: Talking Campus Security with Mitch McKinley

Schools In Focus: Designing a Kids' Kingdom

Our guest today is Hiroshi Okamoto, principal and co-founder of OLI Architecture. He's here to tell us about Anji Play, an early childhood education facility in the Zhejiang province of China.

Spaces4Learning Launches Education Design Showcase 2023

Spaces4Learning is now accepting entries for the Education Design Showcase 2022! The awards program celebrates innovative and practical solutions in planning, design and construction at K–12 and Higher Education institutions both.

Kingspan Light + Air, Solatube Form Architectural Solutions Team

Building envelope solutions provider Kingston Light + Air and daylighting company Solatube International recently announced plans to form an Architectural Solutions Team, according to a news release.

PBLWorks Opens Registration for Professional Development Conference

PBLWorks recently opened registration for PBL World 2023, a professional development conference focused on Project Based Learning, scheduled from June 26–29, 2023, in Napa Valley, Calif.

a full size pirate ship in the classroom

The Top 10 Things I Learned From Building a $51M PreK–12 Campus

Berkshire Local Schools Superintendent John Stoddard gives the inside scoop on what he learned and the advice he’d give on the heels of completing a new PreK–12 campus in Burton, Ohio.

classroom with children in uniforms and raising hands to answer questions

Behavior Management and Classroom Design Go Hand-In-Hand

The pandemic has hurt the social-emotional development of students; however, it has also given K–12 leaders a unique opportunity to reimagine what our learning spaces might look like by considering them through a lens of equity, inclusion, and student empowerment. In doing so, we can improve student behavior and motivation at the same time.

colorful rockwall feature at school with students climbing

Designing Equitable Experiences for Students with Special Needs

The lessons learned from designing spaces for special education schools provide valuable insights for every school looking to improve equity and inclusivity on campus.

Smith College, MNLA Partner for 20-Year Landscape Master Plan

Smith College in Northampton, Mass., recently partnered with landscape architecture firm MNLA to complete a 20-year landscape master plan for its 147-acre campus.

Schools In Focus: Talking Campus Security with Mitch McKinley

Schools In Focus: Bringing Learning to the Great Outdoors

On this episode of Schools in Focus, our guest is Brad Pittam, president of the International Play Equipment Manufacturer’s Association, or IPEMA.

young girl holding cupping her hand around her ear to hear

In Modern Learning Environments, Instructional Audio Isn’t Optional

The secret is out: One of the best ways to boost student achievement is to ensure your students can clearly hear their teacher and classmates.

The Thacher School walk through area with study nook

Opening the Doors to Evidence-Based Design In Ojai, California

In 2021, the Thacher School, located in Ojai, Calif., opened the doors to its project-based learning hub. The space was designed to support a multidisciplinary learning environment with collaborative common areas and classrooms that provide greater flexibility in their use.

castle inside classroom area

Ohio District Builds $52 Million Campus through Partnerships with Local Community, University

Before being selected as the new superintendent, I was intrigued by their PRIME initiative, which stands for Partnership for Rural Innovative Models of Education. The more I learned, the more I wanted to be part of it. PRIME is the name that was given to an innovative PK–16 approach to education to consolidate our smaller rural schools into a larger PreK–12 school on the Kent State University – Geauga campus. The idea was to create more opportunities for our students while creating a more robust feeder system into the Kent State University system, the Auburn Career Center for technical skills, and University Hospitals for a new healthcare track for high-school students.

Spaces4Learning Launches Education Design Showcase 2022

Submit your project today and pay nothing to enter. If your project is selected for publication in the 2022 Education Design Showcase, you will receive an invoice in late September to help cover judging expenses and production, printing and distribution of Spaces4Learning magazine. Don't miss your chance to be part of this program, which highlights the nation's finest environments for teaching and learning. The extended submission deadline is Friday, Sept. 9!

Schools In Focus: Talking Campus Security with Mitch McKinley

Schools In Focus: Managing Schools and Classrooms to Promote Student Wellness

Our guest today is Bob Dillon, a school designer and consultant with STS Education. He's here to talk about the importance of student wellness during the learning day, from the time students arrive at the bus stop to the final bell.

Schools In Focus: Talking Campus Security with Mitch McKinley

Schools In Focus: Hacking the Senses to Boost Student Wellness

Today's guests are Kim Montague, Executive Director - research and insights, and Kaelynn Reid, design futurist, both with Kimball International. They're here to talk about the design elements of multi-sensory environments that research and experience have shown to maximize student wellness.

FLEXspace

FLEXspace: Building a Community For Learning Space Design

Recently, Campus Technology visited with Lisa Stephens, Senior Strategist for Academic Innovation in the Office of the SUNY Provost and Assistant Dean of the University at Buffalo School of Engineering, about current and future developments in the FLEXspace platform.

UE Innovation Hub

The Future of Studying: New Studying instead of Old School Campus

While "New Work" has already become something of a buzzword, studying and learning is often still stuck in old habits and environments. With its new campus in Potsdam, the University of Europe for Applied Sciences (UE) impressively demonstrates that things can be different.

Illinois High School to See $93.2M Renovation Project

Officials from Springfield School District 186 in Springfield, Ill., gathered last week to break ground on renovations to Lanphier High School. The project comes with a price tag of $93.2 million and is expected for completion by December 2023.

Bristol Aggie Lab

Hands-On Learning Spaces: 5 Lessons from Career Tech

The expanding importance of STEM education and project-based learning requires a rethinking of the traditional school planning and design process. A practical way to start is to adopt a broader, non-traditional mindset - especially during a school project’s conceptual phases.