Ennead Partners Tomas Rossant and Molly McGowan penned an op-ed for AIA's Oculus: Summer 2023 Edition. The article covers three emerging trends in architectural design for K-12 institutes. These trends "help inform how we create bespoke educational environments and optimize K-12 learning cultures for our clients."
The op-ed discusses the need to create "Spaces in between" to establish a habit of lifelong learning that continues beyond the classroom, the prioritization of "Maker's Spaces" that help foster design thinking and elastic minds, and flexible classroom designs that can change to accommodate student's needs. The connective thread of these trends is anticipating the next step in a child’s academic career. This progressive design mindset leads to the creation of spaces that will prepare students for the future, and optimize each stage of learning along the way. The result is sophisticated educational environments that balance technically-advanced teaching spaces with spaces for serendipitous social interaction and community building.
Read the full article here.