The three-story, $29 million structure features an intuitive design with conference rooms and teacher offices for the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology located on the top floor, while classrooms and open public spaces share the bottom two floors. As the first academic building constructed on campus in 30 years, it was designed to create flexible and customizable spaces both in its public lobby, where students can meet to study or converse during downtime, and its classrooms. Webster, a private university, paid for the building with money from a four-year, $56.2 million capital campaign, intended to help the school fulfill a new master plan.

The building’s lobby was designed to create a vast and impressive open space, broken up by strategically placed groupings of furniture, allowing students to gather in small or large groups, creating a sensation of sharing private conversations within strikingly large open areas. The theme of breaking up large areas with comfortable and easy to rearrange furniture was implemented throughout the entire project.

The building was designed through a collaborative effort involving New York firm Robert A.M. Stern Architects and Mackey Mitchell Architects, based in St. Louis, with Paric Corporation, based in O’Fallon, Mo., serving as the construction manager. Local St. Louis firm Spellman Brady & Company served as the interior designer on the project, and were able to create cozy spaces within large areas at the university, while ensuring that classrooms and office spaces were functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Bruce Hentges, vice president of Spellman Brady & Company, explained the school was looking to take itself in a new direction with this building, rather than attempting to replicate the interiors of existing structures on campus.

Lara Slavkin, designer on the project for Spellman Brady & Company, said the idea was “to go for a more sophisticated pallet, not geared toward school colors or any kind of theme.”

The entire building was designed with input from a 15-person steering committee, which met regularly and featured members representing the school’s administration, facility services, faculty, students and technical services.

Hentges explained his company held a two-day furniture fair on campus, bringing in over 100 pieces of furniture to be evaluated by students and faculty, featuring various pieces for each type of room in the structure. He added that 164 people participated in the exercise. Hentges said the participants seemed to really enjoy the process and get a sense of involvement with the project.

Slavkin explained that one of the signature features of the building ended up being the long corridors, which were broken up by small alcoves and filled with individual lounge chairs along with tandem seating. The areas include power outlets as well, to let students charge their portable devices while studying or taking a break between classes. The redesign of this area transformed the space from a busy hallway to a place where students can utilize for studying purposes and also social interactions. Slavkin selected Achella seating provided by Chicago-based Arcadia.

Describing the corridors, Slavkin said, “The architecture had these niches created with windows, high ceilings and wood paneling, and we were able to create these smaller intimate lounge seating groupings that have actually been utilized by the students quite a bit when we visited after the fact.”

Visitors entering the lobby are instantly struck by the massive two-story clearing, with a wall of light flowing down from the upper level onto a picturesque staircase surrounded by oak paneling. Slavkin selected high back chairs for the lower level of the lobby area, but placed low back chairs on the second level to avoid obstructing the view from below, allowing visitors to enjoy the architecture and natural lighting. The project featured a massive amount of natural lighting, as part of the university’s quest to attain LEED Silver certification, which as of press time, is still pending.

Slavkin said she enjoyed using the natural light to accent her work, explaining, “We really just kind of played off of that and brought these seating arrangements to those windows so when you were sitting in these spaces, even though you were indoors, you were enjoying the exterior.”

The building’s commons features flexible workspaces with tables that adjust in height, allowing students to stand or sit depending on their preference. The Freestyle adjustable tables were provided by Milwaukee-based Surface Works.

The classrooms were intended for a wide array of subjects and classes. The rooms were arranged in a variety of styles, with most of them designed to be easily rearranged or reorganized.

The classrooms all contain Focus chairs by SitOnIt, based in Cypress, Calif., which feature comfortable cushions with mesh backs. Seating options with or without arms were sprinkled throughout these rooms, accommodating different body types and personal preferences.

“We wanted to have something that was size appropriate, comfortable, that made a statement within the classroom that complemented the architecture. That was really one of the signature pieces from a furniture standpoint and Webster made a commitment to invest in the student and this was a significant investment, just the chair itself,” said Hentges.

Technical labs, a brand new type of classroom space at the university, featured groupings of tables around television monitors, allowing students to break up into groups, work on a presentation, and show their finished product to the entire class on the main screen.

The more standard classrooms were designed for more traditional learning environments, with rectangular tables that could be arranged all facing the teacher for a lecture-style experience, or placed in a large rectangle in a study group setting.

The only learning spaces without furniture that could easily be rearranged were the tiered classrooms. These classrooms were set up in a small amphitheater style, with two different levels in the floor allowing students to surround their instructor in a half-ellipse formation. A projector was positioned in the middle, facing a large whiteboard, which doubled as a screen for the professor to lead the class through presentations.

The dean’s office and reception area features heavy wood tables and comfortable chairs, along with abundant natural lighting and large comfortable chairs.

Offices for instructors in the school of business followed the theme of flexible design. None of the usable features were fixed to the wall, allowing professors to create whatever type of environment they want while visiting with students. A few of the office spaces feature IdeaPaint whiteboard surfaces on the walls, allowing teachers to draw visual aids, or demonstrate equations while explaining principle to students.

The classrooms, offices and boardrooms all feature carpet tile. Slavkin said this choice was made because carpet tiles can be replaced individually when damaged, while broadloom carpets would have a visual seam when a section was cut out, meaning the school would either have to accept a less than ideal visual blight or replace an entire room’s carpet.

Hentges said one conference room, now being used as a boardroom for the university, stands out from the rest. The epic space features windows on three sides, a high ceiling and dark wood furniture. The centerpiece is a massive wooden table, wired for electrical and Internet functionality.

The post Comfortable Furniture Ties Together Modern Spaces appeared first on School Construction News.

The three-story, $29 million structure features an intuitive design with conference rooms and teacher offices for the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology located on the top floor, while classrooms and open public spaces share the bottom two floors. As the first academic building constructed on campus in 30 years, it was designed to create flexible and customizable spaces both in its public lobby, where students can meet to study or converse during downtime, and its classrooms. Webster, a private university, paid for the building with money from a four-year, $56.2 million capital campaign, intended to help the school fulfill a new master plan.

The building’s lobby was designed to create a vast and impressive open space, broken up by strategically placed groupings of furniture, allowing students to gather in small or large groups, creating a sensation of sharing private conversations within strikingly large open areas. The theme of breaking up large areas with comfortable and easy to rearrange furniture was implemented throughout the entire project.

The building was designed through a collaborative effort involving New York firm Robert A.M. Stern Architects and Mackey Mitchell Architects, based in St. Louis, with Paric Corporation, based in O’Fallon, Mo., serving as the construction manager. Local St. Louis firm Spellman Brady & Company served as the interior designer on the project, and were able to create cozy spaces within large areas at the university, while ensuring that classrooms and office spaces were functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Bruce Hentges, vice president of Spellman Brady & Company, explained the school was looking to take itself in a new direction with this building, rather than attempting to replicate the interiors of existing structures on campus.

Lara Slavkin, designer on the project for Spellman Brady & Company, said the idea was “to go for a more sophisticated pallet, not geared toward school colors or any kind of theme.”

The entire building was designed with input from a 15-person steering committee, which met regularly and featured members representing the school’s administration, facility services, faculty, students and technical services.

Hentges explained his company held a two-day furniture fair on campus, bringing in over 100 pieces of furniture to be evaluated by students and faculty, featuring various pieces for each type of room in the structure. He added that 164 people participated in the exercise. Hentges said the participants seemed to really enjoy the process and get a sense of involvement with the project.

Slavkin explained that one of the signature features of the building ended up being the long corridors, which were broken up by small alcoves and filled with individual lounge chairs along with tandem seating. The areas include power outlets as well, to let students charge their portable devices while studying or taking a break between classes. The redesign of this area transformed the space from a busy hallway to a place where students can utilize for studying purposes and also social interactions. Slavkin selected Achella seating provided by Chicago-based Arcadia.

Describing the corridors, Slavkin said, “The architecture had these niches created with windows, high ceilings and wood paneling, and we were able to create these smaller intimate lounge seating groupings that have actually been utilized by the students quite a bit when we visited after the fact.”

Visitors entering the lobby are instantly struck by the massive two-story clearing, with a wall of light flowing down from the upper level onto a picturesque staircase surrounded by oak paneling. Slavkin selected high back chairs for the lower level of the lobby area, but placed low back chairs on the second level to avoid obstructing the view from below, allowing visitors to enjoy the architecture and natural lighting. The project featured a massive amount of natural lighting, as part of the university’s quest to attain LEED Silver certification, which as of press time, is still pending.

Slavkin said she enjoyed using the natural light to accent her work, explaining, “We really just kind of played off of that and brought these seating arrangements to those windows so when you were sitting in these spaces, even though you were indoors, you were enjoying the exterior.”

The building’s commons features flexible workspaces with tables that adjust in height, allowing students to stand or sit depending on their preference. The Freestyle adjustable tables were provided by Milwaukee-based Surface Works.

The classrooms were intended for a wide array of subjects and classes. The rooms were arranged in a variety of styles, with most of them designed to be easily rearranged or reorganized.

The classrooms all contain Focus chairs by SitOnIt, based in Cypress, Calif., which feature comfortable cushions with mesh backs. Seating options with or without arms were sprinkled throughout these rooms, accommodating different body types and personal preferences.

“We wanted to have something that was size appropriate, comfortable, that made a statement within the classroom that complemented the architecture. That was really one of the signature pieces from a furniture standpoint and Webster made a commitment to invest in the student and this was a significant investment, just the chair itself,” said Hentges.

Technical labs, a brand new type of classroom space at the university, featured groupings of tables around television monitors, allowing students to break up into groups, work on a presentation, and show their finished product to the entire class on the main screen.

The more standard classrooms were designed for more traditional learning environments, with rectangular tables that could be arranged all facing the teacher for a lecture-style experience, or placed in a large rectangle in a study group setting.

The only learning spaces without furniture that could easily be rearranged were the tiered classrooms. These classrooms were set up in a small amphitheater style, with two different levels in the floor allowing students to surround their instructor in a half-ellipse formation. A projector was positioned in the middle, facing a large whiteboard, which doubled as a screen for the professor to lead the class through presentations.

The dean’s office and reception area features heavy wood tables and comfortable chairs, along with abundant natural lighting and large comfortable chairs.

Offices for instructors in the school of business followed the theme of flexible design. None of the usable features were fixed to the wall, allowing professors to create whatever type of environment they want while visiting with students. A few of the office spaces feature IdeaPaint whiteboard surfaces on the walls, allowing teachers to draw visual aids, or demonstrate equations while explaining principle to students.

The classrooms, offices and boardrooms all feature carpet tile. Slavkin said this choice was made because carpet tiles can be replaced individually when damaged, while broadloom carpets would have a visual seam when a section was cut out, meaning the school would either have to accept a less than ideal visual blight or replace an entire room’s carpet.

Hentges said one conference room, now being used as a boardroom for the university, stands out from the rest. The epic space features windows on three sides, a high ceiling and dark wood furniture. The centerpiece is a massive wooden table, wired for electrical and Internet functionality.

The post Comfortable Furniture Ties Together Modern Spaces appeared first on School Construction News.

The lined rows of plastic-topped desks of yesteryear are becoming outdated and replaced with more flexible, tech-friendly workspaces for students.

While some products like a chalkboard are becoming obsolete, what we are seeing instead are traditional classroom furnishings that are evolving to meet the changing needs of 21st century teaching and learning, said Cindy Weinschreider, director of marketing communications for Bretford Manufacturing Inc.

Bretford, headquartered in Franklin Park, Ill., is committed to adapting to the evolving classroom with tech-enabled, sustainable furniture design for learning spaces.

With extensive research on the topic of 21st century learning, Weinschreider provided five key learning concepts that are driving the transformation of classroom furniture:

Learning is Social: Simply put, we learn when we share and engage with others.
Learning is Mobile: Learning is an active pursuit, whether its with our bodies, the devices we are using or the way the furniture is set up in a room.
Learning Integrates Technology: This requires a careful understanding of the power and mobility of smart devices and how to best integrate them with the pedagogy and curriculum.
Learning Needs Context: We learn from where we are, who we are with and from those with whom we interact.
Learning is Multi-Modal: People learn in different ways and respond to many different styles.

Agility, connectivity and versatility are key to furnishing a 21st century classroom. Tables are used as opposed to desks to allow for collaboration, Weinschreider said, and now include power outlets for smart devices, which have become an integral tool for the modern classroom. It is not just classrooms that have to consider the use of furniture, but it is also important to think about the items in your house too. If you are considering purchasing new items, it may be best to look into something like furniture delivery UK to transport your items safely and easily to your house.

These products are flexible and reconfigurable depending on the needs of the classroom, Weinschreider said. Tables can be daisy chained together and put into different formations to fit the subject and the number of students in the room.

Tables, desks, high gloss tv unit, interactive whiteboards and other furniture are now equipped with wheels in order to provide mobility and easier storage, Weinschreider said.

Many new products are also in a wide range of standards and custom colors with a variety of fabrics to attune to a modern look and feel, added Weinschreider.

A certified carbon-neutral company, Bretford is one of many furniture companies that is increasing its focus on sustainability.

Many companies have taken extra measures to make sure their products are certified so they are safe for the environment and especially for the children who are in the room, Weinschreider said.

The post Focus on Furniture appeared first on School Construction News.

Technology is not the only thing that is advancing in the classroom. Steelcase Education Solutions developed furniture that can fit the ever-changing needs of a students’ learning environment. Furniture is not just stationary anymore, as Steelcase shows with its focus on active learning, according to Barry Brennand, sales representative for Steelcase Education Solutions.

“We focus on classrooms, social learning spaces, places where frankly real learning gets done,” Brennand said.

While 21st century learning is becoming increasingly popular with schools, students and architects — furniture companies must adapt to the change in design as well. One example of how Steelcase incorporated furniture to transform learning took place in the main library at Texas Tech University (TTU) in Lubbock, Texas.

Collaborative work settings were designed where students could gather around a desk and work off their laptops or set up a web cam to be projected on the flat screen television attached to each workstation. TTU calls the space GroupWorks, and it has become a popular destination on campus.

“The idea is to provide an environment for the way students work now, and it’s all about group work. It’s about students working together, from on campus, across campus, across the state — wherever the group members may be,” said Justin Daniel, systems librarian for TTU, who hatched the idea for the GroupWorks area.

The GroupWorks space occupies 3,200 square feet of the library’s first floor and is opened 24 hours a day for students to utilize.

“We’re open 24 hours a day. Anytime you go out there, there are people using them, and in different ways, too,” Daniel said. “Groups and individuals use them. Sometimes they multitask to the point I can hardly believe. They’ll have a video on one monitor, a Word document on another monitor, and they’re listening to something with their ear buds.”

Along with Steelcase providing furniture for interactive and collaborative study areas in the library at TTU, the company also produces furniture for K-12 classrooms.

Northview High School in Grand Rapids, Mich., was looking for a solution for its classrooms. They wanted to incorporate a variety of learning modes into classroom space including lecture, large group discussions, small project groups and presentation space. They also wanted to make sure the classroom could be flexible and convert quickly to the changing needs of the students and/or lesson.

“When I went to school we all sat in rows and faced the front of the classroom, but now most K-12 classrooms are taught in a different way where student participation and collaboration is key,” explained Brennand.

Steelcase Design Studio, in collaboration with the design and innovation consulting firm IDEO, created node — a chair designed to meet the many styles of learning. Northview was a beta site for the new chair, which caused significant improvement in classroom collaboration and engagement.

After several surveys and studies, node was found to improve the overall classroom experience for 97 percent of students.

“The next step is collaboration with peers, and that’s the piece that’s so amazing with these desks, and it’s also one of the steps that gets skipped,” said Sheri Steelman, Northview High School teacher. “[Some teachers] might lecture the whole time, but this way, it makes it so easy for students to work together.”

The post Mobile Furniture Moves Classrooms Towards the Future appeared first on School Construction News.

The designs from Fleetwood include cabinetry, desks, tables, storage and mobile teaching/learning stations. The recent $3.5 million contract was awarded to Herald Office Systems, Fleetwood’s dealer in Charleston. The contract is part of a major effort by the school district to rebuild/renovate schools over the next five years to meet new safety standards, and due to a growing student population in the area.

Fleetwood will produce cabinetry for 420 classrooms in 15 schools, winning after a two-year bidding process against five competitors. The classrooms will be equipped with two Fleetwood Learning Walls, which use modular casework instead of built-in casework, allowing more flexibility as classroom space requirements change. The company also hopes to supply more furniture to the district in the future.

“Since being awarded this contract we have begun bidding on other furniture that the school will need and we hope to be in a position to fulfill all of their loose furniture needs,” said Jeff Pett, vice president of sales and marketing for Fleetwood.

The unique component of the furniture is the Learning Wall, as it allows for classroom flexibility, which is seen in many 21st century school designs.

“While not completely mobile, they can be easily disassembled and removed from the room to another room or another building without having to destroy and rebuild cabinetry,” explained Pett. “This allows a school to keep their learning spaces completely flexible for future repurposing, or to make building repairs without damaging the cabinetry.”

The Learning Wall will be incorporated at the Charleston schools in standard rooms with over 22-feet of Fleetwood cabinetry in front of the class consisting of two 8-foot Learning Walls, a center cabinet to support an interactive display, and two mobile cabinets, according to Pett.

Fleetwood has had many successes in the past and hopes to continue the trend into the future by offering school leaders and architects the tools they need to develop a better classroom atmosphere.

“We spend most of our time and energy selling the concept of keeping learning spaces flexible,” said Pett. “Once school leaders and architects grasp the benefits of doing that our entire line provides the tools to execute that philosophy.”

Fleetwood not only provides furniture to improve the flexibility of classroom space, but also is saving school districts money with its fast and efficient approach when working on a project.

“We have had some great success stories where our school customers have built or remodeled a school building without having any built in cabinetry — then our furniture arrives in several trucks and a few days later a school is ready to open.” said Pett. “We have been credited with eliminating a whole month out of the construction process, which all by itself provides huge savings to the school.”

The post Fleetwood’s Flexible Furniture Wins Bid appeared first on School Construction News.