Page 43 - College Planning & Management, November 2017

INTERIORS
PHOTO © STEVE MAYLORA ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR OZ ARCHITECTURE
even a little bit of distraction. It’s important to recognize that students need to move around, change their environments and eat and drink throughout day. This plays into the design of the interior space in several ways. Appealing spaces include:
• A variety of spaces. First, of- fering a variety of spaces is key. Traditional classrooms are important, but so are scat- tered touchpoint spaces where a student may work for a short amount of time, perched on a bar stool or nestled into a sunny corner.
• Flexibility of spaces. It’s also important to think about flex- ibility and user control, keep- ing in mind that moveable, durable furniture like modu- lar sofas or chairs with casters that can be moved around and adjusted, with work surfaces that can be raised or lowered, will offer students even more ability to make the spaces their own. Some students may also have small children with them before or after dropping them at daycare or school, and lounge furniture that can hold (and hold up against) students and small children
can be especially important. • Extra space. Designing areas and using furniture with lots of surface space is important, too, to accommodate students with backpacks, books and laptops — as well as a cup of coffee — who benefit from having room to spread out or
to work in groups.
Offer Amenities Designed Just for Them
When talking about com- munity colleges in particular, an architect or designer’s primary work may revolve around renova- tions rather than new construc- tion. This means dealing with existing conditions and working withinanexistingdesignaesthet- ic. While this can present chal- lenges, it’s also an opportunity to bring in necessary updates that modern students need to be suc- cessful. In order to feel encour- aged to stay on campus, the space must feel approachable, flexible
PHOTO © JAMES RAY SPATIN FOR OZ ARCHITECTURE
NOVEMBER 2017 / COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 43