Architect's Comments

To help inform this study, the views of architects were obtained through a mail survey. The 62 architects who were sent the survey were selected based on:

1. recent participation in the design of high school science, math, and / or technology education facilities;
2. awards received for the design of high school facilities;
3. recommendations from various parties involved in this study.

The survey asked architects the following three questions:

1. How will the teaching spaces for science, math, computer science, and technology education be different in the next decade?

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

3. Is there a preferred or ideal process for interacting with school representatives to ensure that the design and resulting facility will support current and future programs and pedagogy?

Below are selected responses from the survey. We would like to thank all of those firms who chose to respond.

1. How will the teaching spaces for science, math, computer science, and technology education be different in the next decade?

We are experiencing more interdisciplinary activities between subject areas, which results in a non-departmental clustering of classrooms. A variety of breakout spaces for various size groups need to be provided with appropriate technology for teaming and project work. More independent study opportunities affect the type and availability of technology. Laptop computers availability to staff and students has changed the make-up and usage of the traditional "computer labs".

We will be seeing more and more industrial technology shops converting to clean technology labs, reducing the need for large machinery and the traditional shop setting. There is a trend towards multi-purpose labs especially at the middle school level. Technology allows science and subjects like art to be compatible in the same space. These multi-purpose labs are integrated into the classroom cluster for interdisciplinary teaming.

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

We’re starting to see a shift in schools and teaching. In the past schools were designed as spaces that housed students as passive learners. Schools have to change to meet new demands the world is placing on the educational system, and spaces need to respond to the changing organization of schools and student

• Learning spaces must support a wide variety of learning activities and environments. Students need to have a place to learn how to learn, to create and expand what there is to be known, to gather and assess knowledge, and demonstrate the synthesis of their skills. As a group students can look at scientific issues, perform experiments and develop a summary such as a web page to communicate what they have learned. Wisdom Hall is a new resource room at Antioch High School for students who need help with study skills. When you enter this room it is difficult to distinguish between students and teachers because of the interaction. We designed this to accommodate the latest technology and learning spaces, and support a variety of activities at the same time, from quiet learning, to group learning in large spaces, and one-on-one work. A large portion of the space is defined simply by furniture. Walls or building elements provide anchors for activities or visual and audio separation, and also a place to run wires. This type of design could work effectively for many different subjects.
  
• All of the schools we have been working with are using classrooms in different ways. Classrooms are being used to encourage students to work in small groups, and studies show that they are retaining more information by this new model, more active than passive. When we ask teachers "Where is the front of your classroom?" the answer is that there really isn’t one anymore.
  
• Interdisciplinary teaching is becoming more prevalent, with joined efforts of related disciplines such as math/science/technology/computer science. Teams of three teachers often work together to plan how to each their 75 students.
  
• Flexibility is another key to effective learning spaces for science, math and technology. At Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (MSA) we were recently commissioned to design an "infinitely" flexible inquiry lab for students who undertake independent study projects in collaboration with industry leaders. From year to year the school doesn’t know the nature of the projects the students will be conducting, yet the lab is being planned to accommodate any experiment the students can possibly imagine, limited only by safety issues, while allowing them to gain skills and demonstrate their knowledge. Although contained within a small 1,500 square foot space, this flexible new lab may represent the basic science classroom of the future.
  
• Wireless data connections will increase flexibility of equipment placement.
  
• Computers are becoming more prevalent in lab settings for data collection and analysis. This will require additional space and less traditional millwork configurations. Computer hardware/software needs physical isolation from moisture, chemicals and heat, and at the same time requires proximity to connect probes to experiments.
  
• Computer technology in labs will supplement hand-on experiments. Although we believe science and technology students will continue to conduct hands-on experiments in labs, computer simulation offers students the opportunity to perform dangerous experiments that otherwise might be prohibited due to safety concerns.

  O’Donnell Wicklund Pigozzi and Peterson Architects Incorporated

• Today computer science class is learning about computers. Computers are going to become so integrated that there won’t be a computer science room; it will be called technology education. It will be commonplace for students to already know how to use computers, and computer science will actually be incorporated in technology education which will explore the infinite information highways available through technology.
  
• There will be more of an integration occurring between mathematics and sciences. At Winter Springs, the rooms are arranged in academic clusters with math located next to science which is next to English, so that teachers integrate their courses including instruction in technology education.
  
• There also needs to be a room large enough to accommodate large groups for 30, 60, 90 students. In the past, the Media Center has been used for this purpose. Ideally, classrooms with technology in them should be flexible enough so that walls can easily be moved to accommodate large groups. Only one of the rooms needs to be equipped with the high-end technology information systems that receive the technology. This design is illustrated with Celebration School’s "neighborhood concept", with its four classrooms in a space and one technology hub in the center.
  
• In the past, there were individual teacher planning spaces. At Winter Springs, a teacher planning suite, approximately the size of a typical classroom, was created so that teachers can interrelate through teaming and cooperative instructional methods to include several disciplines.

  Schenkel Shultz

• Virtually all classrooms, not just math and science, have the capability of projecting computer images; math classes primarily use graphing calculators, not computers; science labs are now providing a computer station for each two students; science labs incorporate "thimble" chemical and simulated computer experiments.
  
• Typical classrooms include five to six computer plus a teacher station.
  
• Laptop computer carts with a completely setup local network and fully preloaded computers now are being used in classrooms to allow access by entire class groups in lieu of going to a PC lab.
  
• The old wood and metal shops have been replaced, or in some cases augmented, by computer design technology labs with associated fabrication areas.

ARC — Architectural Resources Cambridge Inc.

• Much more computer simulation of experiments
  
• Greater use of computer applications
  
• Less use of chemicals and smaller amounts

Payette Associates

• Furniture must be appropriate for technology integration. The old student desk / chair combination will not accommodate the personal computer / lap-top.
  
• Spaces must be designed for multi-media; glare-free lighting; flexible room arrangement; multipurpose usage.
  
• Spaces must be full "wired" for systems accessibility by the student.
  
• Science labs are seeing a reduction in expensive "wet labs" for hands-on experiments and more sharing of spaces to allow classes to access computers without the "wet labs" and integrate the computer into the "wet lab". Virtual reality in science experiments should reduce wet labs down to minimum.
  
• School should offer open computer labs to allow free access to a computer even in the evening and on the weekend.

Bay Architects

• We believe teaching spaces in the future must incorporate even more flexibility than they do now.
  
• There will be fewer fume hoods needed as teachers use fewer chemicals, incorporating a "micro chemical" philosophy, if you will.
  
• There will be more reliance within science and math teaching spaces on computer technology. Therefore, we will have to provide adequate spaces for computers and their use.
  
• We believe there will be greater diversification in the overall subject matter. Therefore, teaching will be more interdisciplinary. This new philosophy will call for less formal teaching spaces, in niches between classrooms, etc.

  Graham Gund Architects

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.

• 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

3. Is there a preferred or ideal process for interacting with school representatives to ensure that the design and resulting facility will support current and future programs and pedagogy?

We have found success with the creation of a Steering Committee at the beginning of the project. This committee consists of representatives from the school board, staff, administration, students, maintenance and the community. This group is the "sounding board" for generating new ideas, building concepts, building consensus and distribution of information.

The broad representation this committee provides, assures the creation of a building which meets the needs of all the user groups. Besides meeting with the Steering Committee, we meet with each of the groups they represent to share concepts, receive detailed information, resolve issues and give updates on progress.

Filtering ideas through the Steering Committee to the groups they represent and then back to the Committee is a very effective way to share ideas challenge thinking, gather information and build consensus.

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

• We believe the relationship between a school and its architect must be interactive, and the more the school is willing to participate, the better. Our process begins with getting "shareholder" involvement. We prefer to get participation from all shareholders, because the people who may be the most critical of the process will create challenges than can lead to a better solution. If the administrators or boards don’t choose to involve the entire staff, it is important to have an identified focus group comprised of those people that will be most affected by changes and have key roles in making decisions.
• Next the shareholders or focus group must develop a shared vision. At Antioch High School, before we every began developing a master plan, the school board had developed a 40-page vision statement that outlined a typical day in the school ¾ what a student would see while walking down the halls of the school. That vision drove our master plan.
  
• Next the group should identify their current and future needs. At this stage they should be charged with raising the bar and looking beyond the immediate issues. This is the opportunity to change their educational environment, and we encourage our clients to spend an appropriate amount of time scenario planning. At this point in the process we may encourage the group to look at completed spaces in other schools, universities and industries, to help think about future needs and possibilities.
  
• Schools should also use this time to dream. They should allow their architect to use the same creativity that’s expected in designing how the building looks to be used in the planning and programming of the interior spaces.
  
• Finally, we help the group prioritize its needs and balance those needs against the resources at hand to come up with a final wish list. Our goal is to create a space that will work 50 years in the future. Architects need to use their knowledge to ask the right questions and their experience to serve as the leader in this process.
  

  O’Donnell Wicklund Pigozzi and Peterson Architects Incorporated