“Collaboration Station,” a feature in the May 2011 issue of University Business magazine, discusses the design of collaborative study spaces in higher education. Ed Gomes of Duke University talks about the Duke Link, the interactive teaching and learning space designed by Shepley Bulfinch which opened in 2008, noting that the project “was about creating an atmosphere in which people can experiment.”

Since the Link opened in 2008 it has attracted significant attention from institutions of higher education and architects across the US. Ed Gomes discussed the Link’s creation in a ...[more]

With its cafe and generous space, the glass-walled Pavilion is a wildly popular destination campus destination. The space evolved to embody a concept we call “safe space”: an environment that fosters comfort, honesty, and trust. The Pavilion sits near Duke’s iconic chapel, a subtle nod to the notion of library as inspirational space. Conversation and collaboration flow unhindered between the Pavilion and Perkins Library. Flexibility of time is integral to safe space, where formal and and informal meetings are neither limited or prolonged. This notion of flexible time takes the well-known “third place” concept a step further by extending and encouraging ...[more]