Room where we stay every day should be designed according to the audience and their needs. Architect should create functional, safe environments, aesthetically appropriate for the particular surroundings. Apart from the technical aspect, such rooms should be life-worthy and inspirational. Room nature affects WAT (well-being-activity-mood) of people who stay there. Therefore, it is significant that the surrounding room would support use’s activity, inspire work or studies  and create really well-being. 

Good room is adaptable. 

In the developing society, the constant renewal of different spheres of life takes place. Our consumer habits and values are changing. The framing room should be ready for changes. However, in some cases the room development has been unbelievably slow. For instance, if we imagine the most ordinary learning room – a classroom, we would not notice any difference between the room in 19 century and the room we use today. At the same time, the learning methods, learning goals and needs have changed. 

Certainly, a typical schoolroom today is not a place where sudent and teacher would be eager to spend their time, or which  would support learninging. Long narrow dark coridors and closed classrooms separate students and teachers inside the closed rooms. You may get the impression that it is only possible to learning in the classroom, to learning in a way and in the time when and how they have always done. Such habit moved further from the schoolroom to other educating environments. The students who sit in rows, one behind other, and listen to the independent speaker, are rather passive both within the learning process and towards the room. Since learning becomes more and more student-oriented, making them more and more active, and the process of learninging more variable, the room should also support the new attitude.

Learning room is everywhere around us

As the author is a mentor of the architecture hobby group at Viimsi school, she can state that the children are not used to learning anywhere else except in the classroom. She has attempted to conduct learning work outside the classroom as much as possible. Since the children lack such experience, their attention is often diverted away from the topic as they are in a room unusual for the lesson. Still, students will remember such lessons and start enjoying them more and more. 

Learning room has no specific size or shape. You can learning everywhere, though you should find a place appropriate for the topic. The ’variety’ is an important keyword on the first place. Lecture halls, laboratories, corridors, stairs, window-sills and ladders,  nature or city environment offer diverse opportunities for learning experience. A change of learning room favours integration of different subjects and finding correlations. You should only be creative when using room and discover what the room itself can offer for learning process, or what a user can change and adapt in such room. 

Various ways of using room 

Interesting examples are experienced everywhere in the world, designers have been experimenting with learning room interior. One extreme example is Vittra school in Stockholm where there are no classrooms at all, and students&teachers use the room areas creatively, according to their learning methods. The open space provides for arranging the process in conformity to the way of learning: individual work, group work, work with the entire class or bigger audience. The more multifunctional rooms are, the bigger auditorium can use it for Learning work or hobby activity. 

The examples of multifunctional learning room:

1. Vittra Telefonplan school, Stockholm 2. Flying carpet in corridor, Ohio  3. Ørestad Gümnaasium, Kopenhaagen 4. Viljandi Riigigümnaasium open room, Viljandi

 

Every human is different, and, what is relevant, they gain information differently. Therefore, room should contain enough tools and variability so that student could find themselves a suitable medium and place. What’s more – a human should feel comfortable and safe there. They will be more efficient, creative and involved. The more students&teachers can design their room according to the personal  notion, the greater interest they have to the process of learninging&teaching. Stairs, movable and adjustable chairs and cushions will structure room and offer modes of being in different space. 

Room arrangement according to the topic and character of lecture 

Good room is visually stimulating and helps student to better remember 

Apart from movable chairs and desks, you could pay attention to other aspects of room interior relevant to the learning process. 

• Light- What mood do we want to create?
• Visibility- Do my listeners see and hear me?
• Materials and colours- provide for special appearance of room. 
• Orientation- Where to is it possible to projeсt screen picture? 
• Wall area can be covered by notes and instructions.
• Spatial openess- connection with nature creates feeling of safety and offers more pleasure. The closer room is, the more cramped it may feel and the less we want to stay there. 

Learning room is the place where both student and room are involved in the learning process. Choice of location provides benefits for linking learning material with practical questions. Mobile furniture helps arrange room accordingly to method of giving the lecture. Room atmosphere defines readiness and well-being of people. The main thing that active mentor can guide learners to actively participate in lesson and experiment with space. Human remembers what he learns much better if they can correlate that with the place where they studied. Colours, smells, mood and the room content help in that. 

Author: Kerstin Kivila works as an architect in the architecture firm 3+1 architects. Outside of professional work she leads an architectural extracurricular activity at the Viimsi Secondary School. In 2015 Kerstin graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with an MA in Architecture. Her thesis topic was titled: "An adaptable School: Architectural methods to restructure school buildings with the example using Koeru school

Used illustrations:

•    https://brianclaessonpatten.wordpress.com
•    http://www.aswoffeducation.com/tag/challenge/
•    http://www.rosanbosch.com/en/project/vittra-school-telefonplan
•    http://www.area-architecture.com/blog/?p=456
•    http://www.3xn.com/#/architecture/by-year/78-%C3%B8restad-college
•     http://bit.ly/1qnGLxE