Discusses how schools are meeting the athletic and recreational needs of students with multipurpose field houses. Discusses the importance of properly communicating the building's function to the architect, clarifies the difference between multipurpose and multi-use facilities and its effect on facility design, and explores how facility operations…

Argues that school classroom design affects learning and advocates that planners can look at students' developmental needs and the curriculum to redesign and expand classrooms to fit those needs and requirements. Different lighting effects on students are examined as are classrooms without walls and building flexibility into space design. Final…

Colleges and universities face an annual challenge to distribute housing to students. Initial student numbers usually exceed housing potential, but no-shows and early departures often even the numbers in the first few weeks of the year. Complicating factors include families' increasing ability to pay for dormitory housing, better campus housing…

Discusses opportunities available to writing centers involving four potentials for institutional refiguration: (1) institutional space; (2) knowledge production and intellectual property; (3) research paradigms and rewards; (4) and budget allocations. (NH)

The creation of usable space for gatherings and socializing is an important consideration in any campus planning program. The University of California-San Diego has a large outdoor assembly area. An addition at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo encompasses an existing pedestrian path. A new building at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, is designed as a…

Discusses the development of teacher education classrooms (multimedia presentation, multipurpose, distance learning, and computer) at Tamkang University (Taiwan), addressing room functions, teaching methods, media/equipment, and courses taught. Provides floor plans for each classroom type. (PEN)

Classroom density may be a more important planning consideration than size. The lower middle range for human social distance is 7 feet--not met in most classrooms containing 20 to 25 students. Students need ample space, since crowding causes behavior problems and increased maintenance costs. (Contains 10 references.) (MLH)

Explains how school media centers and libraries are transforming into bustling workrooms and why they deserve serious consideration during the design process. The main factors to consider in the planning phase of a media center are reviewed. (GR)

Discusses how the growing use of information technology and the move toward schools as community learning centers are affecting the demand for and use of space in educational institutions, particularly in reference to changes which promote lifelong learning and the creation of the information society. Observations from Australia, Austria, Belgium,…

Presents guidelines for stocking, organizing, and maintaining a storage space for physics education laboratory and demonstration equipment. (WRM)

Describes how the Hammond School District (Indiana) solved the problem of fitting the correct amount of space needed for students, teachers, and technology. Examines the district's solutions for furniture needs through the use of full-scale mockups of classroom arrangements; and the wiring, power needs, and lighting. (GR)

Discusses four factors in designing a school music room that satisfies student, teacher, and school needs. Explores acoustics in terms of cubic volume, room shape, sound isolation, acoustical treatment, and mechanical systems. Also examines the floorplan for space, traffic control, and access to related areas. Concluding comments address equipment…

Provides two examples of the trend towards community and school district partnering: a recreational facility in Missouri; and a corporate training and conference center in Michigan. The possibilities and the pitfalls as demonstrated from these partnerships are discussed. (GR)

Most campuses have no real estate to spare for the purpose of housing yet more printed books in their general libraries. Some solutions to this problem entails putting lesser printed materials in less-costly storage facilities; or engaging in cooperative archiving agreements that retain one copy of a title in one of the partner's active stacks so…

Pedagogy, the art and science of teaching, should be the driving force behind the design of any teaching facility. What is taught and how it is taught should determine the size, type, and configuration of educational space. The statement seems obvious, but often miscommunication and ill-considered compromises can divert a capital project from an…