As young students, we start with curious minds keen to absorb new information and skills. This is nurtured and encouraged as soon we enter the classroom, within spaces designed to foster a love for life-long learning. But how can students learn when everyone learns differently? How can they reach their potential when everyone’s measure of potential is different? And how can each space cater for each individual’s journey? At Tectura, we believe that rethinking the role of space within classrooms means schools can better cater for all students and create better outcomes for life.

 

More than one size fits all

Historically, schools were designed with non-individualised education and less tailored spaces. Desks stood in classrooms and students lined up in rows, facing a teacher in front of a blackboard, chalk in hand. Today, our world embraces difference and diversity with a mix of spaces that follow suit, supported by a safer, holistic approach to teaching and lifelong learning. This reflects the increase in students with neurodivergence, and the rise in digital technology which is impacting how students are being taught. As architects, the challenge is to craft clever spaces that cater for both, rethinking new ways to support students so that they can achieve their best.

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Diverse learning opportunities

Smart design creates better outcomes for students who are neurodiverse, by changing the way space is used or using it in ways that do multiple things. At Melbourne’s brand new Kurmile Primary School, in Officer, we designed a clever learning solution to give students autonomy and the ability to actively engage with their environment. By splitting seating modules and moving them into another area, students can create a new group learning environment with their friends or even a small group space outside their classroom, taking control of the way they engage with the school. Students who identify as neurodiverse can actively set up the space to cater for their individual learning needs, rather than static classrooms. 

 

At Clyde Primary School, where reading nooks are integrated into classrooms. The reading nook becomes a withdrawal/calm corner with bench seating and pigeon holes as a joinery unit, cleverly placed around a door frame without taking up additional classroom space. Not isolated from the main space, students can feel part of the classroom and the classroom itself can be easily adapted to suit different teaching and learning needs. Both designs facilitate flexibility and an innovative way of thinking, supporting students to think for themselves and become more independent without being too far away from their classrooms. Best of all, the modules can be easily replicated and adapted to suit other schools, with the scope to be used in or outside classrooms, and to suit a mix of different purposes.

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Better access to books for reading

Living in an increasingly digital world offers opportunities to access information in more ways than ever before, but research shows that students perform better when they can access physical books. Not only that, but the books need to be within easy reach within learning spaces too. 

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At Kurmile Primary School, the learning modules provide this too. Within the central open breakout area of two of their school buildings, we designed large flexible timber modules placed on the floor. They comprise four modular parts linked together to create a curved, connected space. With room in the middle, the parts can also be separated into four equal individual modules, all on wheels and easy to manoeuvre. On the outside of the modules, two rows of timber joinery contain bookcases at two heights to cater for students of different ages, along with lower shelves for storing books. Inside, comfortable bench seating invites reading or group chats, and the movable sections can be wheeled away to create another reading zone. The pedagogical benefit to students using the learning modules is that they can see, touch and read books as an extension of their classroom – as a satellite support to the main school library. With books in easy reach and reading a normalised activity, both become an everyday part of daily life for students.

 

Tomorrow’s spaces today  

As Australia’s performance in science continues to decrease, a significant overhaul is required to help bridge the gap. As a result, more architects are creating smart spaces that reflect state-of-the-art pedagogical thinking on STEM and STEAM learning. It’s also an opportunity for our team to think critically about delivering these spaces. ‘Banyule Nillumbik Tech School in Melbourne’s outer east, that acts as a ‘second teacher’. The tech school embraces experience-based learning with the elements of collaborative and student-led learning we’ve come to expect today, such as advanced technology, electronics and media production capabilities, but goes one step further by becoming a teaching aid itself by cutaway floors and wall linings to reveal the inner workings of the building. 

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Untapping potential for better social outcomes

While the blank canvas of a new school presents fresh opportunities, so many  learning institutions are already built - and ageing infrastructure – that it is challenging to ‘open up’ old spaces within existing built form to meet the future needs of students.

 

In Collingwood, Melbourne Polytechnic's Brutalist-style building has been providing vocational and practical training since the 1970s. Its facilities had grown out of date, but by cleverly reworking the internal floor plan with a major refurbishment, instead of simply demolishing it, the building almost a city block has been reimagined to meet the current higher education standards and the demand for the future economy.

 

Formerly dark and enclosed spaces were opened up, as each floor was strategically replanned to cater for flexibility and future-proofing. Classrooms can easily expand or contract with operable walls, and breakout spaces become formal presentation spaces or informal brainstorming zones, complementing the teaching spaces for dual purposes. Smart AV integration supports Melbourne Polytechnic’s blended learning environment and allows for the physical and digital classroom to run in parallel.

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At Tectura, we’re always thinking of ways for learners to own their space with more opportunities to collaborate, discuss and investigate, with a focus on inclusion and diversity. ​Fundamentally, smart spaces that are truly flexible, hard-working and multi-varied beyond simple functioning will create stronger outcomes for every student and their community. Big design or small, they have the power to transform one mind at a time. And that’s a good investment.