We’ve been having talks in my department about what our wish list for classroom spaces might look like, and we’ve consistently been interested in a “design studio” type space that could be used for collaborative student work and some smaller, design-focused classes. This industrial design case-study of a “cafe classroom” has some cool features and also raises some questions about how this type of classroom would fit into a larger academic building.
The combination of seating, writing surfaces, and whiteboards with lots of different heights and configurations is appealing for letting students figure out what type of space they need for a particular type of work. I have to admit to being a bit confused about how the power is integrated into the furniture – is the furniture moveable or does it have to be fixed in place to be powered?
The bench-type “perching” seats are interesting. I could see them working well for groups collaborating at a whiteboard. Rather than having everyone stand, or having one person write while others are sitting away from the board at a lower level, I can see how this would encourage more eye-level conversation across a group. Participants might be more likely to get up and start writing on the board when they’re leaning rather than fully seated. Obviously not a replacement for proper, supportive seating, but a neat idea.
I do think that the case study text exaggerates what is being achieved at the start. I’m thinking about this statement in particular: “This new environment enabled by CoLab can be used for both formal learning and informal peer-to-peer collaboration, without the need to reconfigure the space. This leads to a greater efficiency in the use of space and the ability to activate redundant classrooms.”
In reality, I think they are more accurate later in the presentation where they say that this type of furniture will work well to construct other types learning spaces outside traditional classrooms. But I’m having a hard time seeing, in these pictures provided, how this type of space works with 16-25 students in it all at the same time, particularly if all of them are needing to use their laptops or attend to the same presentation. Perhaps I’m misunderstanding what they mean by a “formal learning” space.
I’d love to see a case study like this break down how many square feet you should plan on allocating per person using the room in order to really take advantage of the flexibility of the space. It would be very helpful in advocating for the right size and shapes of classrooms to allow for more innovative arrangements. (Obviously, from the photos, windows absolutely everywhere is also a must.) I’d also love to know how students use these spaces – does that feedback indicate anything about the right combination of different types of seating, preferred layouts, etc. Can this type of furniture work when trying to equip a space that will be used as a semester-long classroom for a course as well as an information working space for students?