Page 24 - College Planning & Management, March 2019

FLOORING FOR LEARNING SPACES
purposes in the seating, aisle, and stair areas. We typically use carpet tile in class- rooms because small areas can be replaced when needed but in the case of this audito- rium, broadloom goods were used because of the stairs and seating chosen.”
Of course, the aesthetic of a flooring system is another key consideration. As Reiske puts it, “Our classrooms need to be welcoming to promote the best learning environment possible.” The resulting space appears well lit and airy, with carpet, as he noted, in a subtle tone and understated pat- tern that comports well with the aforemen- tioned sealed concrete at the front of the room, and the overall decor.
Reiske notes some related, trending
changes in flooring choice on his campus during the past five years or so.
He explains, “We are using far more sealed or polished concrete in our new facili- ties.” Reiske points out that the concrete is
a “very durable, low-maintenance material with good tradespeople in our region. If not a sealed concrete floor, we would typically use carpet tile or luxury vinyl tile (LVT). LVT has replaced the majority of applica- tions where we would have previously used vinyl composition tile. It is a matter of maintenance and aesthetics in this case.”
He places the university’s flooring decision-making process in context: “I will say that developments that create better life-cycle costs and lower maintenance costs are attractive to us.” In fact, “life-cycle costs have become a critical factor in many mate- rial choices being made,” he adds.
Constants and Trends
Jonathan Stanley, national vice president, education sales for Tarkett, has explored a range of flooring issues as they apply to cam- pus spaces, including lecture halls. Stanley says, “I see mostly a soft surface being used in your typical lecture halls for acoustics reasons, mainly with a high-performance soft texture. However, in spaces for schools that use a lecture hall as a multipurpose space I see a mix of either high-performance soft floor covering or resilient.”
For sure, there are some constants in
terms of lecture hall flooring: performance, as in wear and acoustics, ease of mainte- nance, and cost efficiency over the life of the flooring. If those constants are not surpris- ing it does not make them any less impor- tant. How those lasting flooring needs apply amid changes and trends is another matter.
Take, for example, a matter that Stanley points out: immersive synchronous (ISC) lecture halls, in which a lecturer conducting class in person to students also appears in
a live digital feed in front of another group of students elsewhere, such as on a different campus. According to Rutgers University, ISC lecture halls connect two of its New Jersey campuses. In such instances, there is a pressing need for flooring that has impact- ful acoustical qualities and designs that comport well with digital images and broad- cast. For example, conspicuous patterns
in carpeting can be distracting, whether physically in a room where students are or if the patterns appear on screen.
Thus, there are a variety of approaches for the flooring systems of these college and university rooms. Specifying the right flooring helps ensure the long-term efficiency and success of the room while attention of students is elsewhere: such
as on the educational discoveries that can happen in great lecture spaces. CPM
Scott Berman is a freelance writer with experience in educational topics.
Some takeaways regarding making decisions about lecture classroom flooring:
• Bear in mind that a variety of materials may make sense for lecture spaces that serve, or may serve in the foreseeable future, varying functions and for varying numbers of students.
• Gather a variety of expert insights on and off campus, from maintenance professionals to project architects.
• Acoustics and aesthetics may matter more than ever, given trends toward digital teaching and learning.
• Explore policies, guidelines, and processes that streamline the decision-making process.
24 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / MARCH 2019
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