As seen in this short video produced by Marquette University, the Law School’s new home at Eckstein Hall provides a cornerstone for its advancement of Jesuit legal education.

Just as pedagogical and learning styles have evolved, the design of buildings that support learning are changing, too, from environments with static formulas for space layouts to those that support active dynamic learning.

A primary goal in designing a learning environment is not only to support the activities that take place within it but to encourage the activity and make it visible to those who enter the environment. This idea of taking down boundaries helped accomplish that.

For Eckstein Hall at Marquette Law School this was taken forward with the idea that the law ...[more]

In a celebration today attended by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and other dignitaries, the Atlanta University Center (AUC) rededicated the renovated Robert W. Woodruff Library, unveiling its interactive and technology-rich 21st century learning environment.

Shepley Bulfinch’s completion of the first phase of this major renovation included more than 130,000 square feet of the Woodruff Library’s 220,000 square foot facility. The renovation replaced many solid interior walls with glass panels, drawing natural light deep into the space.

The inviting and dynamic main floor, with its media creation and presentation space ...[more]

Four of Shepley Bulfinch’s academic library clients topped the rankings for “Best College Library” in the 2010 Princeton Review survey of students at 373 top US colleges and universities. The four current or recent clients are Harvard (#1); Duke (#2); Princeton (#3), and Colgate (#4). In addition, Furman University, where the firm completed the 2004 LEED Gold Duke Library addition and renovation, was ranked #12.

Rankings were determined by responses from over 122,000 students to the survey question “How do you rate your school’s library facilities?”.

Colgate also came in ...[more]

Lawrence Biemiller recently opened a HUGE can of worms in the Chronicle of Higher Education when he asked whether all faculty members really need private offices (article). At 92 comments and counting, the overwhelming majority of faculty members responding are vehemently opposed. They cite need for confidential discussions with students, inability to work in a communal environment, and challenges to status (“when administrators do it, I will”) among other reasons.

Even though I am a campus planner who works in an open, collaborative environment, I think the faculty have a ...[more]

The Lovett School’s Portman Middle School in Atlanta has received LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council in recognition of the school’s highly sustainable design and construction.

The project’s highly sustainable attributes include a green roof, which features an outdoor classroom and demonstration garden for water harvesting; a water collection and recycling program; the use of rapidly renewable materials; the recycling of construction waste; and a “Building Dashboard.” In addition to its LEED Gold certification, the project has earned an Energy Star rating from the US Environmental Protection Agency and ...[more]

The Genomics Building at the University of California, Riverside, is featured in the July issue of Lab Design News. The facility opened at the start of the 2009-10 academic year.

This high-intensity multidisciplinary facility, which advances the pioneering research of the University’s Institute of Integrative Genome Biology, concentrates on plant, insect, and microbial genomics.

The building serves more than 200 faculty, researchers, and graduate and post-doctoral students with a bioinformatics suite, research labs, and instrumentation facilities including insectaries and growth chambers, supporting the development of new products such as medicinal plants, stress-resistant crops, and ...[more]