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Technology Is Changing the Way Kids Learn
… And the Classrooms in Which They Do It.

Advertising supplement provided by Paxton / Patterson
By Stephen H. Daniels

2. How can the architectural design ensure flexibility for future programmatic change?

The basic concept of the building can either enhance future to change or hinder it. Grouping of spaces can allow a very departmentalized program to evolve a more interdisciplinary concept. Flexibility within the basic design without having to move walls is especially important when we can anticipate the future trend and yet are not ready to make the difference.

Obviously, the building structure should be flexible and not incorporate elements such as bearing walls or small span column and beam scenarios. Walls should be designed to respond to the degree of flexibility desired i.e. move immediately, move within a day, move over the summer, etc.

Electrical lighting should be on whips to allow walls to move. Speakers should be in the ceiling and zoned to localize sound in small areas of a large open space. Technology infrastructure should accommodate future growth capabilities. Location of cable trays and all technology routes should be accessible.

ATS&R - Armstrong Torseth Skold & Rydeen, Inc.

• Anticipate changing configurations within a school. Based on our experience remodeling older schools, designers need to be more careful in the placement of structural elements, plumbing and other fixed features to allow for renovation to support future programmatic changes. For example, this is in contrast to open plan schools of the 1970's, designed with mechanical systems and windows that resulted in poorly lit and ventilated rooms when partitions and corridors were built later.
• Look at ways to offer spaces for more than one activity. Schools today want science classrooms that they can use for physics, chemistry or biology, depending on enrollment needs. At the high school level there are distinctions in room layout between the various courses taught. Chemistry and biology transfer fairly easily back and forth, but physics labs are more specialized, requiring longer tables to conduct air and wind experiments. Flexibility may be simpler to build at lower grade levels. In designing the expansion and renovation of Thomas Middle School we were able to create new multi-purpose labs for use by all disciplines.
• Provide flexibility through varied learning environments. In the Niles West High School addition, 14 "traditional" science classrooms support general and advanced classes, with shared areas providing safe and economical preparation and storage. The design created interior areas between corridors for informal student interaction, display cabinets, and one dedicated lab for the honor students with special independent study projects.
• Provide infrastructure for potential future needs, such as voice, video and date connections, at strategic locations in the room. Some items may not be used right away, but it's less costly to build them in than to add them later. As part of a major capital improvement program for the Chicago Public Schools we were designing a new magnet high school and helping renovate existing schools. Although CPS didn't know exactly what they needed, they developed a technology program and decided to provide physical space for future improvements. Without incurring a great expense, schools can provide closets for a future computer network and space in the ceilings for extra conduit and cabling.
• Reduce the amount of fixed furniture. Cabinetry design can address flexibility, from generic layouts, to mobile lab tables, or installation of cabinetry on movable wall-mounted brackets. There are limitations to this flexibility: fume hoods, sinks and drainage are fixed, although limited mobility is possible at high cost.
• Schools must balance cost and flexibility. Designs could allow for any science to be taught within a space, but we recommend designing for the optimal flexibility instead of maximum flexibility. At IMSA we proposed a time/Space/Resource map to look at the variety of learning activities and allocate adequate resources for more than static moment in time. Our architects and engineers are working with IMSA to decide on the level of flexibility, considering costs and practical standpoints.
• Look to industry as a model. Institutional labs are using grids of power that allow moveable electrical outlets, or cellular decks to run power and data cabling. So far the schools we are working with find these labs too "futuristic," but we expect they will be in schools in the future.

O'Donnell Wicklund Pigozzi and Peterson Architects Incorporated

• To accommodate flexibility for future programmatic change and technology, a building has to have an intact infrastructure for current technology and with the capability to adapt to future technologies. At Winter Springs High School, a technological loop hub was created paralleling the courtyard and going all the way around the campus. From this hub are a series of systems rooms which are located in each building at the LANS and WANS locations. As Technology changes over time, the basic systems are intact and can be adapted.
• The building should have a simple floor plan in terms of the overall arrangement ¾ preferably rectangular and very simple, identifiable circulation patterns. The rooms off to the sides of the circulation patterns should be equal-sized modules so that walls can be removed between the rooms, permanently if required, with minimal disruption to the overall design of the facility as opposed to having irregular, inflexible shaped rooms. Winter Springs was designed this way.

Schenkel Shultz

• Allow for utilities to be placed so room configuration can change with enrollment shifts and room needs.
• Design spaces to accommodate flexibility in teaching styles.

Payette Associates

More variation in room sizes, types and functions would allow for small discussion groups, individual workstations, large classes and larger assemblies. Long distance learning will become a common programmed class but it might occur for any size classroom.

Bay Architects

• Design in redundancy for mechanical, electrical and plumbing equipment.
• Design movable and adaptable furnishings for labs and classrooms.
• Spaces should be adaptable to any use.
• Classrooms and labs should be designed with moveable partitions without any utilities located on dividing walls.

Graham Gund Architects