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COMMENT Dialogue by design
Oliver Moore of Design Engine Architects looks at how the design of Sixth Forms is evolving to harness the ability of non-hierarchical classrooms to foster more communal dialogue and learning
D
ialogue is fundamental to the way that Design Engine Architects approach the design process. As designers we will seek to develop a response to our client’s brief through a structured series of conversations with project stakeholders, including the eventual users of the building. The benefit of investing time in this early stage is a resultant design based upon a better understanding of those end users’ values; against which the completed building’s performance will be judged and its success appraised.
There is a parallel between this dialogic approach to design and a trend observed among our education clients. Increasingly, UK schools are aiming to teach at Sixth Form level in a way that supports students’ learning through promoting discussion and the collective exploration of ideas. ‘Non-hierarchical’ classroom design seeks to create spaces in which teachers sit alongside members of the class, who all contribute and share responsibility for the learning that takes place.
This facilitates a pedagogy which is believed to result in a deeper level of engagement and appreciation of the content matter. It is an approach which builds on the legacy of US philanthropist Edward Harkness, who funded the development of a radical student-centred method of learning in New Hampshire during the 1930s. The hallmark of this method was collective discussion centred around an oval central table, which became known as the ‘Harkness’ table. There are challenges to designing space that facilitates a ‘Harkness method’ of teaching and learning. The first relates to classroom size. As a practice we find that much of our work within the schools sector is for independent school clients, for whom the typical teaching group size is around 12 pupils, a number more conducive to enabling this group discussion type of learning. Class sizes do vary, up to a maximum of around 16, and so the dimensions of the classroom are sized accordingly. This means there is a need for flexibility of layout and format within this footprint – provided by the modular nature of the furniture. For instance, desks can be nested centrally to form a polygonal version of the oval Harkness table. They can then be flip-folded to be stowed at the classroom edge or in cupboards, along with any surplus stackable chairs. This allows the classroom capacity to shrink or grow to
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meet requirements, while allowing for a variety of desking layouts to suit the desired teaching format.
Berkhamsted School
While the Harkness table is a key feature of our classroom designs developed for a new Sixth Form centre at Berkhamsted School, there is also value the ability to move focus away from the table, in support of the central dialogue. For instance, participants may wish to introduce content for discussion via wall-mounted screens. Integrated IT connectivity solutions can allow both students and the teacher/facilitator to connect their devices wirelessly to one or both of the dual screens either side of the classroom, further dissolving the notion of a front/back, or singular spatial focus for the space.
Classroom interior upper floor at Berkhamsted Sixth Form Design Engine Architects
ADF MAY 2023
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