K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR GIANTS: To succeed, school design must replicate real-world environments

When Intrinsic School, a 60,000-sf public charter school, opened last August, it represented a first for Chicago: a school designed from the ground up to blend instruction, collaboration, and technology. Each grade (7–12) is separated into a STEM and Humanities pod. Each pod has its own isolated space, either a lab or a Socratic seminar space.

Each pod has five learning environments whose names—Coastline, Exchange Table, Pop-up Class, Genius Bar, and Study Lounge—hint at the kind of individual or collaborative learning at work. “We wanted to give each space its own identity,” says Daniel Wicke, Project Architect with Wheeler Kearns Architects.

TOP K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR ARCHITECTURE FIRMS

2014 K-12 Revenue ($)
1. DLR Group $47,750,000
2. PBK $44,800,000
3. Stantec $33,419,099
4. Huckabee $32,000,000
5. Parkhill, Smith & Cooper $22,211,000

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TOP K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR ENGINEERING FIRMS

2014 K-12 Revenue ($)
1. AECOM $42,950,000
2. Jacobs $32,915,000
3. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff $19,669,921
4. STV $14,260,000
5. Wendel $12,188,430

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TOP K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

2014 K-12 Revenue ($)
1. Turner Construction $487,394,480
2. CORE Construction $321,022,373
3. Gilbane Building Co. $299,244,295
4. Balfour Beatty US $298,793,841
5. Skanska USA $245,681,551

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Last year, $14.2 billion in school construction was completed, up 5% from 2013, according to School Planning & Management. Whether new or reconstructed, schools must meet new demands that emanate from the real world.

“School buildings and classrooms must be able to rapidly adapt to different instructional and learning modes, including teacher-centric lectures, quiet and reflective self-study and testing, and group collaboration,” says Ronald C. Weston, Vice President of Architecture at Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor.

Tom Rogér, Vice President and K-12 Leader at Gilbane, says 21st-century schools typically include larger spaces for student-centered learning, distributed technology throughout the building, and smartboards configured for student use.

Design needs to allow learning to happen anywhere in the school, says Irene Nigaglioni, AIA, CEFP, LEED AP BD+C, Partner/National Planning Director at PBK. Walls that used to separate classrooms from hallways are being opened up to expand collaborative spaces. Libraries and cafeterias are melding together into “learning hubs,” supported by robust wireless technology.

What’s new about all these design concepts is that more school districts are willing to try them out. The reason: pushback from business leaders. “Employers are starting to complain that kids have lost the ability to be critical thinkers,” says Sandy Kate, LEED AP, REFP, Senior Educational Facility Planner at HMC Architects.

The convergence of teaching methodologies and new design practices is impacting K-12 school design. Spaces for STEM and Next Generation Science Standards require students to apply the same Design Thinking skills that architects use.

“Today’s students don’t just learn about robotics: they build robots,” says Greg Monberg, AIA, CEFP, LEED AP BD+C, Director of Design Research at Fanning Howey. “As architects, we must design environments that catalyze this Design Thinking approach to education.”

Design Thinking is at work in the Milan (Mich.) Center for Innovative Studies, a 23,000-sf project-based learning environment for high school seniors. Specialty labs surround a central “innovative zone.”

The space serves as a laboratory for student projects: building and marketing solar-powered boats, building and programming robots, and designing a load-bearing structure that withstands earthquake-like forces. Students and teachers access the labs and collaboration spaces as needed, based on each day’s activities.

TOP K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR ARCHITECTURE FIRMS

TOP K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR ENGINEERING FIRMS

TOP K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

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