Educational Design Supports the Heart of Learning

nat rosasco • August 23, 2016

The methods schools use to approach learning is shifting dramatically. There is a stronger emphasis placed on collaborative learning, which emphasizes creativity, lively discussions, and merging disciplines in order to encourage learning from peers. To facilitate this change, schools’ architecture and design have to shift as well. Gone are the traditional rows of desks and closed-off classrooms. Instead, universities and K-12 schools are transforming their environments to allow for flexibility of space, integration of technology, and intermingling of students, teachers, and disciplines.

According to an article in Educase , spaces are being designed to encourage learning to happen anywhere and anytime. Hallways are no longer used to simply get from one room to another, but are widened to encourage discussion and, as the New York Times put it in a recent article , a “creative collision.” Furthermore, furniture is flexible and can be arranged into multiple configurations. Dan Huttenlocher, founding dean and vice provost at Cornell Tech stated, “Being in bigger interactive spaces encourages expansive thinking, while being in a box of a room encourages box thinking. Sometimes you need to be in a box to concentrate, but to always sit in a little box is a problem.” Students can now decide where they’d like to work, finding the place that’s most conducive for them and having the option to move around and take breaks at built-in cafes.

At York University in Toronto, the new Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence , which is pictured above. incorporates many of these design elements. ZAS Architects designed the building to be void of lecture halls, replacing them with “active learning classrooms.” The building also features a plethora of informal lounges and wide hallways with banquettes where groups of students can work together. Their back-painted glass walls and technology-incorporated furniture can even be written upon.

Collaborative workspaces at Northshore Country Day School

At Northshore Country Day School , a K-12 school in Winnetka, IL, the physical environment is considered to play a significant role in 21st century learning. When Cannon Design redesigned the school a few years ago, they had five themes in mind. According to their website, these themes were:

Creating agile and flexible community spaces; reinforcing outdoor connections; creating diverse and customizable teaching and learning styles; designing interdisciplinary and collaborative areas that merge science with the arts, innovation and technology; and establishing spaces that nurture relationships and interaction among teachers and learners.

These themes are conveyed through spaces that are open and connected, through furniture built on casters so it can easily be reconfigured, and through circulation spaces that can double as gathering and performance areas. According to architect Trung Le in this EDuQ8 video , the previous environment was physically and visually disconnected. “This place is all about connecting.”

The Visual Arts Building at The University of Iowa was designed to be open to allow easy access to views of making art

The Visual Arts Building at The University of Iowa has an open design to allow easy access to viewing art-making

Others schools have also embraced design that fosters this new dynamic method of teaching and learning. Gensler turned a parking garage into a high-tech workspace at Northwestern University. The space also includes classrooms, meeting areas where weekly alumni and student dinners are hosted, and a cafe. The University of Iowa’s new art building was built to also host STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) classes, pushing the boundaries of these disciplines as they’re blended together.

Here at Reclaimed Table, we’re looking forward to seeing how this innovative design for education will continue to develop and incite creativity. Interested in having reconfigurable furniture to spur your own creativity? We’ve got you covered with our rolling bases and pull-apart tables! Contact us today! Also, be sure to check out our friends over at Agati for some other great furniture options!

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Inventory Sale

By nat rosasco • January 22, 2019

Reclaimed Table's huge selection of one-off, custom table tops are being sold at deep discounts at our Villa Park showroom. Find the durable tables you need for your next project, at prices you won't come across again!

Client Feature: Oak Tables & Benches for Navy Pier's Centennial Vision

By nat rosasco • July 17, 2018

Chicago’s iconic Navy Pier has always been a popular attraction since it opened just over 100 years ago in 1916. It currently welcomes 9 million guests per year. As explained on the Navy Pier website, the Pier was designed by architect Charles Sumner Frost and was originally based on architect’s Daniel Burnham’s “the People’s Pier” in his 1909 Plan of Chicago . It was originally known as “Municipal Pier,” but was renamed in 1927 in honor of the World War 1 Navy personnel who were housed there. As we blogged about a couple of years ago , Navy Pier has been undergoing renovations in honor of its “Centennial Vision” to reimagine and enhance the pier. While updating the pier with new programming and a greener landscape, this vision has also been attracting more local eateries ( like Tiny Tavern ) and shops, creating a space that’s more inviting to local Chicagoans. After providing pieces for the first phase of the remodel last year, we were pleased to continue to be part of this project for the recently completed phase two. Partnering with Gensler, we provided white oak tables and benches near the main entrance and for the brand new, 200,000 square foot Family Pavilion that features over 50 businesses. Fortunately, these pieces were created not only with their visual aesthetic in mind, but also to impressively withstand this sort of high traffic area. We also built the reclaimed red and white oak blade signs flanking all of the restaurants and shops, which creates a unified look within the complex. Much like the Pier, these signs have an interesting, rich history behind them. The red and white oak wood used to make the signs were actually horse fences on a farm in Mercy County, Kentucky that dates back to the late 1800s. Mercer county was one of the first settlements in the state, and the farm itself, Shawnee Springs, was originally over 2,000 acres. In the 1970s the farm was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. We knew the Navy Pier project was the right one for this specific wood-- historic wood for an historic landmark. (See our other applications of reclaimed red and white oak Kentucky horse fence here .) Check out photos of our tables, benches, and signs at the recently updated and unveiled Pier below. And if you’re in the Chicagoland area, you can check them out for yourselves in person, along with a whole host of entertainment on the Pier. Interested in some durable tables and benches for a high-traffic area? Contact us here to get started on your next project.

Aging Booker's Bourbon: Finding the 'Sweet Spot' for Flavor

By nat rosasco • June 18, 2018

When it comes to aging bourbon, Booker’s small batch bourbon has the process literally down to a science. Currently produced by the Jim Beam distillery, it was Jim Beam’s grandson, Booker Noe, who founded this brand in 1992 with bourbon from barrels he personally selected. According to the Booker’s Bourbon website, Booker was actually raised at a Kentucky distillery and brought his family’s six generations of master distillery knowledge to his bourbon batches. How does Booker’s perfectly age their bourbon? As we pretty much all know, bourbon ages in wooden barrels. When the weather becomes hot and humid, like it does during those sticky Kentucky summers, the wood expands and absorbs the bourbon, allowing for a chemical interaction between the bourbon and the wood. In colder weather, the wood contracts and the bourbon escapes the barrel’s walls. This interaction changes the spirit’s taste and color. The longer bourbon is in the barrel, the smoother the taste, (up to a certain point, that is). Barrels are kept in rackhouses where temperatures can easily be regulated. Rackhouses were originally built out of stone with several wooden floors and an exposed dirt basement to control humidity and large temperature swings. The windows were designed to keep the buildings well-ventilated.