Presentation: Designing learning spaces to meet the changing needs and expectations of students and staff
Audience: ALIA – University and Research Libraries Group
Venue: National Library of Australia
Date: 20 Sep 2011
This is a 2011 case study/presentation from the University of Canberra on the planning, design, and delivery of a staff and student commons, including the objectives, guiding principles, and lessons learned.
Download the slides
Project overview: staff & student commons
The presentation describes an Education Initiative Fund (EIF) funded campus development project at the University of Canberra: a staff and student commons delivered as part of a broader development program. The slides note a total EIF funding of $3.7 million, delivered over a 16-month project, and describe collaboration among the University Architect, Teaching and Learning Centre, Jackson Architecture, and Manteena project management.
Timeline and change process
The deck includes a project timeline spanning funding, planning and design, approvals, construction, and handover. It also references Teaching & Learning Centre activity running alongside the build, including a paper on an “Edgeless Learning Environment” and space-and-pedagogy pilots (Hothouse 1.0).
Space program: student commons, staff commons, teaching & learning
Floor plans in the presentation show a clear zoning of the overall environment into three interconnected program areas:
- Student Commons
- Staff Commons
- Teaching & Learning
Separate slides then describe the intent for the staff commons and student commons, including support for informal, formal, and self-directed learning, and access to collaborative learning spaces.
Design objectives
The presentation lists objectives for the space. In summary, the space was intended to:
- Encourage active learning, interdisciplinary study, and collaboration
- Support both students and staff as learners
- Encourage learner-centered (rather than teacher-focused)
- Be accessible both informally and via booking when required
- Work for individuals, groups, and events (including clubs and societies)
- Support BYOD (bring your own device)
- Consider space, light, and order
- Provide for basic human needs (the slide explicitly notes coffee)
Guiding principles and practical ideas
The deck references “Retrofitting University Learning Spaces” and presents 8 key principles and 25 simple ideas to guide learning-space redevelopment. The eight principles emphasize supporting diverse learners and activities, quality user experience, emotional and cultural safety, accessibility, simplicity, integration with physical and virtual spaces, fit-for-purpose longevity, and reliable technology embedded appropriately.
The “25 simple ideas” slide includes highly practical design prompts such as maximizing writing surfaces, providing power broadly, supporting ubiquitous connectivity, removing the podium, enabling student control, and maintaining basic operations (including “clean the toilets”).
Lessons learned
A concluding slide lists lessons learned from delivery and early use. These include involving students and staff earlier (co-create, produce, and program), increasing Ideapaint, power outlets, sofas, and PCs, shifting toward more Mobile Collaborative Workstations (MoCoWs) with fewer fixed screens and projectors, enabling wireless connectivity to screens, and a reminder to “create spaces not places.”
Citation and original context
The slide footer identifies the session as an ALIA – University and Research Libraries Group presentation (Sep 2011) and lists contact details as dan@munnerley.com
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