��By Maggie Marlin, IIDA��

The COVID-19 pandemic forced higher education to answer an uncomfortable question: if the classroom is the only place that matters, why bother with a campus at all?��

Universities responded by completely rethinking what makes physical space valuable. The answer��isn’t��more��classrooms:��it’s��everything around them. Walk into a new college building today and the spaces between classes command as much design attention as the lecture halls. Faculty from different departments share collaborative spaces. Students work alongside industry partners in innovation labs. Libraries have evolved into social infrastructure,��where��connection matters as much as collection.����

This shift��isn’t��just about amenities. As technology reshapes how knowledge gets transmitted and artificial intelligence handles more of the rote work of education, education design is doubling down on what can’t be automated: human connection, hands-on collaboration and the kind of creative thinking that only happens when people come together in physical space.��

According to��Gensler’s��,��released earlier this year,��education is undergoing a fundamental transformation��that’s��reshaping not just how students learn, but how entire learning environments are conceived and built. Three major trends are driving this evolution, and��they’re��already visible in projects across the country.��

Learning Without Lanes��

The first big shift? Learning is no longer linear, and neither is the campus.��

Students today��aren’t��just earning degrees;��they’re��collecting skills. They might spend mornings in traditional lectures and afternoons in apprenticeship programs with campus industry partners, pause their degree to launch a venture, then return for an executive MBA a decade later. Education has become modular, customizable,��and continuous, which means campus spaces need to evolve into flexible ecosystems that can support everything from micro-credentials to business incubators to lifelong learning hubs.��

Western Kentucky University’s��Gordon Ford College of Business at Amy and David Chandler Hall��illustrates��this approach.��The building��consolidates��resources including academic advising, peer tutoring, financial aid guidance��and��even a ‘Suited for Success Closet’ where students can borrow business attire for interviews.��It’s��designed to support students wherever they are in their journey, whether��they’re��navigating their first semester��as a��first-generation��student��or preparing to pivot careers mid-degree.��

On the first floor,��the trading lab��displays real-time stock market changes through Bloomberg Technology terminals, giving students access to professional-grade financial analytics typically reserved for working professionals. Sales classrooms��include set-ups of��real-world environments��that��students��might��encounter��when making a sales pitch,��blurring��the line between academic exercise and professional practice. The most forward-thinking element might be the simulation lab, which uses augmented and virtual reality for marketing strategy exploration. The floor is deliberately furniture-free, allowing for��fully immersive AR and VR experiences.��It’s��a space designed not for how students learn today, but for how��they’ll��need to learn tomorrow, and return to��learn��again years from now.��

Western Kentucky also��demonstrates��this principle through strategic design choices: core��objectives��included creating��spaces so��students��would��linger before��and after scheduled classes, accommodating everything from traditional��undergrads��to professionals pursuing executive education, with spaces that stay flexible enough to evolve alongside industry needs.��

What AI Can’t Replicate��

If campuses��can’t��compete with AI on information delivery, they need to own what technology��can’t��touch: collaboration, community,��and creativity.��Libraries, incubators, makerspaces,��and other campus “third spaces” are being reimagined to prioritize hands-on, project-based��and team-driven work. The social experience of learning becomes��a��competitive advantage.��

This is where projects like Western Kentucky’s Commons at Helm Library come into play. The facility transformed a 1930s building that once housed the university gymnasium into a new intellectual hub at the historic academic heart of campus. The Commons combines social spaces, including food service venues that accommodate 900 guests, with library and student support services.��It’s��designed to serve both campus-based and commuter students, creating a destination that pulls people in rather than just providing study carrels.��

The project has earned��numerous��awards, including the IIDA/American Library Association Library Interior Design Award and Best in Show, precisely because it understands that the future library is less about book storage and more about human connection.��

Purdue University’s Mitch Daniels School of Business, scheduled for completion in 2027, also usestilizes��this philosophy. The building integrates business, technology,��and engineering classrooms and labs with advising offices, flexible collaboration areas,��and an auditorium for campus-wide conferences and events. Recognizing that the high-traffic site lacked green space, the design team added a courtyard for outdoor breaks and events. At night, the glazed facade will glow with activity,��telegraphing��the innovative combination of spaces within and framing��the School of Business as a forward–��looking and vibrant community.��

With a future-forward outlook, the building includes a full prototyping and engineering lab where students can merge technical and business skills in real-world developmePnt scenarios. It offers spaces students might encounter in corporate workplace environments, preparing them not just with knowledge but with the collaborative muscle memory they’ll need in their careers.��

Read more in the Higher Education Issue of 91��Ƶ.

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By Jennette La Quire, AIA, LEED AP ID+C��

Across all grade levels,��hands-on learning is��gaining renewed momentum. As teachers and administrators��increasingly embrace experiential approaches, education is transforming into a more active,��collaborative��and dynamic process��for students. This shift is fueling a demand to��creatively and effectively��connect theoretical knowledge and practical��application��— and is��set to define 2026 and beyond.����

Nurturing Wellbeing with (and without) Technology��

Safety is the priority for all school design stakeholders. Creating a single point-of-entry, while allowing for emergency egress from various parts of the campus, is a strategic way to enhance security without installing overbearing fencing. Windows enable passive supervision and enhance the overall atmosphere. While light and healthy learning spaces are ideal, they must also be designed with potential threats in mind. Aside from window treatments, interior locks, places to duck-and-cover, and screening via shrubbery, schools are starting to install call buttons (also known as panic buttons), which can instantly alert the entire campus to an emergency. This style of broadcast system is an��additional��tool to make students feel safe without making them feel confined.

High-resolution��security cameras��are becoming increasingly common, and not just on the��exterior. High schools are experiencing an uptick of students vaping in bathrooms, setting off smoke detectors, and flushing vapes down the toilet, often leading to plumbing issues. One trending solution involves placing a high-resolution camera at the bathroom’s exterior entrance��as a deterrent,��since��they’ll��be seen entering or exiting the restroom where these incidents occur.��

Adapting to Pre-K (or TK) Inclusion��

At the elementary level, school districts are��following��funding��and policy��shifts to incorporate��transitional kindergarten (TK),��also known as pre-K,��into��both��new and��existing��buildings. The��challenge��for planners and designers is that state��policies��often require preschools to��meet��lower teacher-to-student ratios than the rest of the school,��along with��in-class restrooms��that are easy to supervise.

In��HED’s����across��the��San Francisco Bay Area, cost-effective use of existing infrastructure has been central to successful modernization efforts.For new construction, districts that have not yet received funding or mandates are proactively planning for future TK integration by including��stubbing in��plumbing and��allocating��additional��classroom space.��

Fine-Tuning Food Service��

For school districts in California (and elsewhere), the free-lunch policy instituted during the COVID-19��era has��continued.��As a result, the number of students taking advantage of accessible food has ballooned. To adapt to the��increased strain on the cafeteria space and staff, food service is shifting away from long queues of counter service to “speed lines.”��At��Palo Alto’s Gunn High School,��HED��instituted lines that move along both sides of grab-and-go, center islands. Minimal staff��members��are��required to��scan items at the end of the two lines, ensuring each student receives a well-rounded��meal��and the food service director can track the volume of items��consumed.��The trend to��streamline food service��helps��minimize��queues,��allowing��more time for children to eat,��and��measures��the impact on kitchen capacity.��

Reimagining CTE��

Career Technical Education (CTE) spaces have become��drivers��for design innovation. Gone are the days of tucking woodshop or auto mechanics in a back room. Practical, hands-on learning environments are taking center stage alongside technology, math,��science��and art instruction.��

In some cases, schools are proactively linking the contemplative and kinetic aspects of CTE,��facilitating��connectivity through all aspects of a particular career pathway. HED’s project at Santana High School��in��San Diego County, Calif.,��involved converting a formerly HVAC equipment-filled mezzanine into a viewing corridor linking the computer lab to the fabrication lab. Given this easy connection, students can work on architectural and engineering project calculations and drawings; then, they can easily move to the neighboring auto shop, fabrication lab, or electronics lab to bring their creation to life. Incorporating both the technical and hands-on aspects of that learning experience helps students get a feel for different careers, such as engineering versus construction, and gain insight into potential pathways after graduation.

Embracing the “if you can see it, you can be it” philosophy, the Grossmont Union High School District integrated a��into its campus. The facility delivers professional training and certifications for in-demand careers, such as dental assistant, vet tech, phlebotomist, EMT and nursing assistant. For younger students, it creates a sense of access and possibility.��

Read more about��CTE spaces, and��how adaptable spaces and��new technologies��can also support flexibility and sustainability,��in the��November/December Technology edition of 91��Ƶ.��

Jennette La Quire, AIA, LEED AP ID+C, is the��Pre-K-12 Sector Leader��at HED and a member of the 91��Ƶ Editorial Advisory Board.��

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By Megan Marsh

As education methods and types of spaces evolve, CO Architects is continually exploring emerging trends shaping the future of interiors in higher education. Our challenge as architects and interior designers is to create university environments that foster community, places that support collaboration, encourage interactions among people with varying points of view and forge human bonds. These key trends are important design elements shaping the future of higher education.

1. Flexibility

In an era where everyone must do more with less, flexible design solutions ensure that universities utilize spaces to their full potential. Flexible spaces and furniture that adapt to the future of education are a growing trend. Clients are also increasingly requesting agile spaces that are equipped to respond to various technologies and experiential needs. Many of our projects include movable partitions that allow classrooms to expand as well as large gathering areas that can be reconfigured to host various event types and group sizes, such as lectures, graduation ceremonies and TED Talks.

Designers are now combining business, education, and leisure in blended-use spaces instead of programming them separately for work or gathering. Co-mingling increases occupancy through varying uses throughout the day. Movable, versatile furniture is a vital aspect of space flexibility. Foldable and stackable furniture with integrated storage allows for quick reconfiguration for different activities.

2. Tech-Enabled Spaces

A corollary of flexible design is integrating current technology into campuses for both new buildings and modernizations of older ones to ensure longevity and relevancy. Examples include integrating Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) to enrich students’ campus and education experiences. The evolution of higher education design to focus on technology-driven learning environments as technology-enhanced spaces like AR and VR labs help make complex concepts easier to understand.

Other features routinely included are interactive smartboards, video-conferencing tools and other collaborative software as well as podcast rooms and recording studios for professors to professionally record lectures for hybrid learning, meeting current teaching needs but also accelerating new teaching methodologies.

3. Neurodiversity

Recognizing that students learn in a wide variety of ways, universities are becoming more accommodating to a range of cognitive and sensory preferences. Designs ensure that a choice of sensory environments is provided, in order to cater to diverse learning styles and needs. This can include a variety of study, learning and meeting environments, providing dimmable lighting and a range of color palettes. Collaboration areas vary from brighter rooms with plenty of natural light, to darker rooms with soft lighting as well as a range of visual and acoustical privacy elements. A mix of furniture types adds additional choices, allowing students to choose based on how they’re feeling at any given time.

4. Community-Fostering

The overall square footage in the education sector has remained relatively stable. However, space allocation has shifted toward slightly smaller private offices for faculty and an increase in flexible, shared workspaces or hybrid work models for faculty and staff.

This decrease in private workspaces is offset by a significant increase in public and community-life spaces, such as larger common areas, student lounges, collaboration zones and wellness facilities. Spaces that prioritize social interaction, support student well-being, and enhance campus life reflect a shift toward more communal, multi-functional environments within educational buildings.

5. Local Outreach

Higher education design increasingly considers and embraces the neighboring community. Multi-modal lecture spaces are often designed to also host community events, drawing residents onto campuses. Design details regularly embrace local influences and neighborhood history. Art installations often draw inspiration from the site surroundings and sometimes showcase the work of local artisans.

Visit the to see how wellness, outdoor learning spaces and sustainability are also shaping the future of higher education.

Megan Marsh is a senior interior designer and senior associate in the Los Angeles office of CO Architects.

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