A sweet and plain-looking schoolteacher stands poised in front of a blackboard scribbled with white chalk. At her feet are a felt eraser and a piece of chalk, tools used by her students to create her birthday “surprise” messages on the board. She smiles upon half a dozen children tucked neatly into individual wooden desks. This Norman Rockwell image represents a familiar educational setting that is fading into sentimental memories. In the last decade, classroom design has shifted away from the traditional, “teacher-centered environment” and towards a “learning environment,” which extends beyond four walls and into a larger community space. Classes meet under a tree on campus, or travel to the local library or park for a history or science lesson. Students bring laptop computers to local coffee shops and plug away at English papers while customers order lattes just a few feet away. School building design has evolved based on the belief that providing students with a variety of learning spaces and improving the quality of these environments enhance students’ ability to learn and help raise educational standards. “There’s a belief that learning happens in more places than the [traditional] classroom,” says Brent Miller, higher education studio director with Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers. Pacific Palisades resident J. Peter Devereaux is CEO of the firm, which designs K-12 and higher education campus master plans, courtyards, food service buildings and classrooms. A “classroom,” Miller says, can be a lecture hall, seminar space, library study room, laboratory or mixed-media room. Even food service buildings are no longer just for serving and eating food. These learning spaces are becoming more “wired” and “green,” meaning that they’re equipped with the latest and most energy- and resource-efficient technologies. Wireless Internet is also common. In community colleges, or schools where students might not be able to afford laptops, administrators are purchasing computers and checking them out to students. The trend extends to elementary school-age children, who are “increasingly using computers and laptops,” says John Dale, studio designer for K-12 learning environments with Fields Devereaux. In addition, “smart boards” are replacing marker boards because teachers can use them not only to draw but also to project images from a computer. “One of the things we try to do is incorporate flexibility into our designs,” Miller says. “We make sure the infrastructure is in place, that it’s fortified, so that as technology changes, you can still use the same infrastructure.” The physical organization of the classroom environment is also changing to foster diverse modes of learning. “A lot of students prefer to learn in groups instead of as individuals, and we’re finding that a lot of assignments are given out to groups,” Miller says. “[In response] we’re designing group study rooms in libraries, with furniture that can be easily moved around.” Miller points to Cal State University Northridge’s Student Union as an example of a building that integrates the concept of flexible spaces with a coffee house. Fields Devereaux designed the university’s Art & Design Center and the Arts, Media & Communications Building, both of which incorporate traditional classrooms and specially designed space for teaching and using new technologies “The spaces are actually becoming more differentiated,” says Dale, who explains that in a typical classroom, a teacher might talk to the students all together and then have them break off into separate spaces and work in small groups. “The funny thing about classroom design is that we’re actually cycling back to more complex-shaped classrooms,” Dale says. “A seminal school outside of Chicago, called Crow Island School, was developed [in 1940] around the idea of classrooms as homes’L-shaped classrooms with patios and differentiated spaces that allow for a variety of activities to take place at the same time.” On the other hand, the 1970’s design of schools with internal walls that could be opened or closed like a curtain didn’t work and “actually became nonfunctional at a certain point,” Dale says. “Educational designers are trying to find the mix between specific configurations and flexibility.” One creative solution in elementary school classrooms has been to install glass partitions between rooms to create a transparent environment that allows teachers to monitor student activity while giving them a sense of independence. A new science classroom under construction at Corpus Christi School, designed by Fields Devereaux, integrates some of these design ideas. The classroom includes zoning (expressed in the floor pattern) that allows for flexible teaching and side project activities; the electrical floor outlet grid supports furniture flexibility. Roughly 900 sq. ft., the classroom incorporates “smart board” and state-of-the-art projection technology, as well as advanced lighting control to switch easily between projection and teaching mode. Senior project designer Michael Bulander says the building was originally designed as a classroom, but needed renovation and upgrading. They have used the building itself as a teaching tool by revealing the existing post-and-beam structure so that teachers can literally show their students the physics of how it is supported. Display cases in the classroom window are designed to show science projects to the whole campus. “The target was to create a high-performance classroom,” Bulander says, referring to a classroom that uses the whole building to save energy, resources and money. For example, the acoustical ceiling has reflection and absorption panels, which cause the teacher’s voice to bounce off the ceiling in the right place and the students to absorb the sound well in the location where they’re seated. “The mechanical system was already in place,” Bulander says, referring to the big windows and exterior overhang of the existing concrete structure, which serves as a thermal mass absorbing some of the heat, for climate control. “The common sense of sustainability was already there.” In recent years, the concept of “green building” also has been revived, promoting open, airy environments that invite natural light and reduce reliance on artificial light. “California knew how to do ‘green’ schools in the 1950s,” Dale says, “with the big windows facing north, and the smaller, high windows facing south, for shading on the south side. These were designed before air conditioning, and made effective use of natural light.” Allowing for natural ventilation also provides a healthier learning environment. For example, the latest designs utilize “displacement ventilation,” meaning that when a room is being cooled mechanically, the air is brought in at a low level as opposed to on top of people, allowing it to naturally rise. “You’re providing healthier air circulation, like old-fashioned ranch-style houses with vents in the attic windows, where air goes out,” Dale says. “This is not earth-shattering science but rather, common sense.” The Corpus Christi classroom also exemplifies another element of “green building”: the use of natural, recycled materials such as linoleum (made of natural resin) and wood. “A lot of flooring, carpeting and tile employs recycled materials,” Dale says. “Sometimes we use bamboo in cabinetry and floors.” However, he adds that some of the natural materials “are still experimental and expensive. “Some projects we do with natural lighting have costs that are a little higher, but in the long run, the more natural light [you have], the more electricity you save. Those life-cycle costs start to add up.” The challenge, Dale continues, are “schools designed under pressure,” on initial costs versus the amount of money to be saved in the long run. A recent Los Angeles Times article addressed this problem with regard to the Los Angeles Unified School District building campaign. The article, called “Lessons unlearned,” praised the district for confronting problems of overcrowding and aging facilities but stated that “as the district has become more aggressive about asking for money and tackling new lists of educational problems, on the design front it has shrunk into caution and insularity.” One LAUSD school that exceeds California Title 24 energy standards by about 30 percent is Cahuenga New Elementary School in Hollywood, designed by Fields Devereaux. This K-5 high-performance school was the first new facility built after LAUSD passed the 2002 resolution adopting the CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools) Design Guidelines for their schools. “The quality of the environment really does affect the quality of learning,” Miller says. Perhaps these “Classrooms of the Future” will speak for themselves.

A sweet and plain-looking schoolteacher stands poised in front of a blackboard scribbled with white chalk. At her feet are a felt eraser and a piece of chalk, tools used by her students to create her birthday “surprise” messages on the board. She smiles upon half a dozen children tucked neatly into individual wooden desks. This Norman Rockwell image represents a familiar educational setting that is fading into sentimental memories. In the last decade, classroom design has shifted away from the traditional, “teacher-centered environment” and towards a “learning environment,” which extends beyond four walls and into a larger community space. Classes meet under a tree on campus, or travel to the local library or park for a history or science lesson. Students bring laptop computers to local coffee shops and plug away at English papers while customers order lattes just a few feet away. School building design has evolved based on the belief that providing students with a variety of learning spaces and improving the quality of these environments enhance students’ ability to learn and help raise educational standards. “There’s a belief that learning happens in more places than the [traditional] classroom,” says Brent Miller, higher education studio director with Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers. Pacific Palisades resident J. Peter Devereaux is CEO of the firm, which designs K-12 and higher education campus master plans, courtyards, food service buildings and classrooms. A “classroom,” Miller says, can be a lecture hall, seminar space, library study room, laboratory or mixed-media room. Even food service buildings are no longer just for serving and eating food. These learning spaces are becoming more “wired” and “green,” meaning that they’re equipped with the latest and most energy- and resource-efficient technologies. Wireless Internet is also common. In community colleges, or schools where students might not be able to afford laptops, administrators are purchasing computers and checking them out to students. The trend extends to elementary school-age children, who are “increasingly using computers and laptops,” says John Dale, studio designer for K-12 learning environments with Fields Devereaux. In addition, “smart boards” are replacing marker boards because teachers can use them not only to draw but also to project images from a computer. “One of the things we try to do is incorporate flexibility into our designs,” Miller says. “We make sure the infrastructure is in place, that it’s fortified, so that as technology changes, you can still use the same infrastructure.” The physical organization of the classroom environment is also changing to foster diverse modes of learning. “A lot of students prefer to learn in groups instead of as individuals, and we’re finding that a lot of assignments are given out to groups,” Miller says. “[In response] we’re designing group study rooms in libraries, with furniture that can be easily moved around.” Miller points to Cal State University Northridge’s Student Union as an example of a building that integrates the concept of flexible spaces with a coffee house. Fields Devereaux designed the university’s Art & Design Center and the Arts, Media & Communications Building, both of which incorporate traditional classrooms and specially designed space for teaching and using new technologies “The spaces are actually becoming more differentiated,” says Dale, who explains that in a typical classroom, a teacher might talk to the students all together and then have them break off into separate spaces and work in small groups. “The funny thing about classroom design is that we’re actually cycling back to more complex-shaped classrooms,” Dale says. “A seminal school outside of Chicago, called Crow Island School, was developed [in 1940] around the idea of classrooms as homes’L-shaped classrooms with patios and differentiated spaces that allow for a variety of activities to take place at the same time.” On the other hand, the 1970’s design of schools with internal walls that could be opened or closed like a curtain didn’t work and “actually became nonfunctional at a certain point,” Dale says. “Educational designers are trying to find the mix between specific configurations and flexibility.” One creative solution in elementary school classrooms has been to install glass partitions between rooms to create a transparent environment that allows teachers to monitor student activity while giving them a sense of independence. A new science classroom under construction at Corpus Christi School, designed by Fields Devereaux, integrates some of these design ideas. The classroom includes zoning (expressed in the floor pattern) that allows for flexible teaching and side project activities; the electrical floor outlet grid supports furniture flexibility. Roughly 900 sq. ft., the classroom incorporates “smart board” and state-of-the-art projection technology, as well as advanced lighting control to switch easily between projection and teaching mode. Senior project designer Michael Bulander says the building was originally designed as a classroom, but needed renovation and upgrading. They have used the building itself as a teaching tool by revealing the existing post-and-beam structure so that teachers can literally show their students the physics of how it is supported. Display cases in the classroom window are designed to show science projects to the whole campus. “The target was to create a high-performance classroom,” Bulander says, referring to a classroom that uses the whole building to save energy, resources and money. For example, the acoustical ceiling has reflection and absorption panels, which cause the teacher’s voice to bounce off the ceiling in the right place and the students to absorb the sound well in the location where they’re seated. “The mechanical system was already in place,” Bulander says, referring to the big windows and exterior overhang of the existing concrete structure, which serves as a thermal mass absorbing some of the heat, for climate control. “The common sense of sustainability was already there.” In recent years, the concept of “green building” also has been revived, promoting open, airy environments that invite natural light and reduce reliance on artificial light. “California knew how to do ‘green’ schools in the 1950s,” Dale says, “with the big windows facing north, and the smaller, high windows facing south, for shading on the south side. These were designed before air conditioning, and made effective use of natural light.” Allowing for natural ventilation also provides a healthier learning environment. For example, the latest designs utilize “displacement ventilation,” meaning that when a room is being cooled mechanically, the air is brought in at a low level as opposed to on top of people, allowing it to naturally rise. “You’re providing healthier air circulation, like old-fashioned ranch-style houses with vents in the attic windows, where air goes out,” Dale says. “This is not earth-shattering science but rather, common sense.” The Corpus Christi classroom also exemplifies another element of “green building”: the use of natural, recycled materials such as linoleum (made of natural resin) and wood. “A lot of flooring, carpeting and tile employs recycled materials,” Dale says. “Sometimes we use bamboo in cabinetry and floors.” However, he adds that some of the natural materials “are still experimental and expensive. “Some projects we do with natural lighting have costs that are a little higher, but in the long run, the more natural light [you have], the more electricity you save. Those life-cycle costs start to add up.” The challenge, Dale continues, are “schools designed under pressure,” on initial costs versus the amount of money to be saved in the long run. A recent Los Angeles Times article addressed this problem with regard to the Los Angeles Unified School District building campaign. The article, called “Lessons unlearned,” praised the district for confronting problems of overcrowding and aging facilities but stated that “as the district has become more aggressive about asking for money and tackling new lists of educational problems, on the design front it has shrunk into caution and insularity.” One LAUSD school that exceeds California Title 24 energy standards by about 30 percent is Cahuenga New Elementary School in Hollywood, designed by Fields Devereaux. This K-5 high-performance school was the first new facility built after LAUSD passed the 2002 resolution adopting the CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools) Design Guidelines for their schools. “The quality of the environment really does affect the quality of learning,” Miller says. Perhaps these “Classrooms of the Future” will speak for themselves.