Page 22 - College Planning & Management, March 2019

Facilities CAMPUS SPACES
Flooring for Learning Spaces
Choosing the right flooring for lecture halls and
classrooms will have an impact on acoustics,
aesthetics, maintenance, and more.
inflated early in semesters, as students as- sess whether to enroll—calling for folding chairs in the back. By extension, making such an arrangement would require floor- ing that holds up well under such use.
Accordingly, as the University at Al- bany’s Mike Nolan, senior communications specialist, says, “carpet is the recommend- ed flooring material for the lecture center classrooms.” He explains, “carpet has the advantage of introducing colors/patterns into the classrooms; it absorbs sound for better acoustics and is easier to maintain by our custodial staff.” The guidelines cite carpet tile for lecture halls, and recom- mend that “a manufacturer take-back program for demolished carpeting should be given preference.”
Whatever the product and space at Albany, specifying flooring is an interactive process as renovation or new construction projects emerge on campus. For example, “we work with the project architects to review the space program finish selection/requests, including flooring materials,” Nolan adds.
Mark L. Reiske, director of Facilities Planning and Development at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, explains the decision-making process there, which is guided “first and foremost” by the program- ming of the space. A recent project on campus illustrates. As Reiske says, “In the Integrated Science Building auditorium we chose a combination of carpet and sealed concrete. The sealed concrete was chosen because of the demonstration experiments that will be done in the presentation area of this room.”
He continues, “The carpet was intro- duced into the design for acoustical
BY SCOTT BERMAN
CAMPUS DECISION MAKERS respond variously to the flooring needs of lecture hall classrooms
and related instructional spaces. Their decisions about flooring are part of the process of producing auditoriums of learning that serve as crucial settings at the core of higher education.
Flooring solutions in lecture and simi- lar large classrooms encountered in recent years include, among others, tile used in concert with wood acoustic wall panel- ing and other features; sealed concrete; materials in a range of colors; carpet, in both broadloom and tile; as well as rubber tile along seating tiers.
Processes
The University at Albany – State University of New York, which in 2018 renovated some lecture spaces on the university’s Uptown Campus, shared some insights about the process of specifying flooring in those spaces.
The university’s classroom design guidelines, developed in 2014 by architect and design firm Perkins+Will, streamline the decision-making process for interior selections, including flooring. The guide- lines cover many specifics about overall classroom design, furnishings, and tech- nology. For example, the guidelines point out that lecture hall attendance may be
22 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / MARCH 2019
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