The Spark, Washington State University’s (WSU) new 83,295-sf high-performance digital classroom building, provides the campus with a network of flexible, technology-enabled learning environments. The ZGF Architects-designed facility includes a variety of classroom types including formal, informal, large group, small group, individual, active, problem-based, and maker spaces.
The classroom spaces are flexible and allow for easy transition from a lecture format to group discussion. Students can reserve a variety of group study rooms by using iPads mounted outside of the rooms. “Learning lounges” are located on each level and provide space for meeting and help manage the large numbers of students congregating outside of classrooms before and after class. A naturally lit central stair links the interior spaces together and acts as a wayfinding tool.
Photo: Benjamin Benschneider.
The highlight of the new building, and also the largest classroom in The Spark, is a circle-in-the-round 360-degree active learning hall. This classroom forgoes the typical tiered seating lecture hall concept and instead provides students with 360 degrees of projected content that encircles the faculty.
Photo: Benjamin Benschneider.
Large glass windows are found throughout the building to bring natural light and transparency to learning and support spaces. A roof deck furthers the connection to the surrounding natural environment. The Spark is currently on track to receive LEED Silver certification.
Photo: Benjamin Benschneider.
Photo: Benjamin Benschneider.
Photo: Benjamin Benschneider.
Related Stories
| Apr 12, 2011
College of New Jersey facility will teach teachers how to teach
The College of New Jersey broke ground on its 79,000-sf School of Education building in Ewing, N.J.
| Mar 23, 2011
After 60 years of student lobbying, new activity center opens at University of Texas
The new Student Activity Center at the University of Texas campus, Austin, is the result of almost 60 years of students lobbying for another dedicated social and cultural center on campus. The 149,000-sf facility is designed to serve as the "campus living room," and should earn a LEED Gold certification, a first for the campus.
| Mar 18, 2011
Universities will compete to build a campus on New York City land
New York City announced that it had received 18 expressions of interest in establishing a research center from universities and corporations around the world. Struggling to compete with Silicon Valley, Boston, and other high-tech hubs, officials charged with developing the city’s economy have identified several city-owned sites that might serve as a home for the research center for applied science and engineering that they hope to establish.
| Mar 15, 2011
What Starbucks taught us about redesigning college campuses
Equating education with a cup of coffee might seem like a stretch, but your choice of college, much like your choice of coffee, says something about the ability of a brand to transform your day. When Perkins + Will was offered the chance to help re-think the learning spaces of Miami Dade College, we started by thinking about how our choice of morning coffee has changed over the years, and how we could apply those lessons to education.
| Mar 11, 2011
University of Oregon scores with new $227 million basketball arena
The University of Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena opened January 13 with a men’s basketball game against USC where the Ducks beat the Trojans, 68-62. The $227 million arena, which replaces the school’s 84-year-old McArthur Court, has a seating bowl pitched at 36 degrees to replicate the close-to-the-action feel of the smaller arena it replaced, although this new one accommodates 12,364 fans.
| Mar 11, 2011
Historic McKim Mead White facility restored at Columbia University
Faculty House, a 1923 McKim Mead White building on Columbia University’s East Campus, could no longer support the school’s needs, so the historic 38,000-sf building was transformed into a modern faculty dining room, graduate student meeting center, and event space for visiting lecturers, large banquets, and alumni organizations.
| Mar 11, 2011
Texas A&M mixed-use community will focus on green living
HOK, Realty Appreciation, and Texas A&M University are working on the Urban Living Laboratory, a 1.2-million-sf mixed-use project owned by the university. The five-phase, live-work-play project will include offices, retail, multifamily apartments, and two hotels.
| Mar 11, 2011
Slam dunk for the University of Nebraska’s basketball arena
The University of Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball programs will have a new home beginning in 2013. Designed by the DLR Group, the $344 million West Haymarket Civic Arena in Lincoln, Neb., will have 16,000 seats, suites, club amenities, loge, dedicated locker rooms, training rooms, and support space for game operations.
| Feb 23, 2011
The library is dead, long live the library
The Society for College and University Planning asked its members to voice their thoughts on the possible death of academic libraries. And many did. The good news? It's not all bad news. A summary of their members' comments appears on the SCUP blog.
