Pacific Lutheran College – Year 4 Teaching Facility

The initial brief from Pacific Lutheran College (PLC) was to create 3 new GLAs for the Year 4 cohort of approximately 85 children. From the beginning, PLC expressed their desire to move away from conventional classrooms, which are present throughout the existing school.

Initially there was resistance to moving away from traditional GLA designs, mainly due to past experiments undertaken. These were perceived as being unsuccessful and too costly. To address this, we shifted the focus away from the building and focused on the spaces required and the relationships between them. The introduction of a concept foreign to education – the Lobby – generated new ideas, thinking and discussion, which lead to momentum and enthusiasm for what else was possible. The Lobby allowed us to address numerous practical requirements, including access, functionality, visibility and natural ventilation. It provided equitable access for every GLA to each of the other spaces. Along with the Lobby, we also developed (with the College) the concepts of Cave, Campfire and Waterhole, which describe the different types, scales and uses of space within the building.

PLC have noted that the design of the facility and the flexibility it provides for furniture selections and locations is important in the support of the teaching and learning philosophy. The School has also observed that levels of engagement and enthusiasm are higher among the Year 4 students, which is a result of peer-to-peer interactions in a collaborative setting. Initial concerns about the level of distraction the glass walls could provide are no longer present. Rather than creating a distraction, the walls have allowed a sense of togetherness to develop across the Year 4 group. They also increase the sense of team between the teaching staff, each of whom has a unique teaching style. Importantly, the facility accommodates and encourages without forcing a particular pedagogy. This flexibility is critical, as the school implements the outcomes of its Harvard Graduate School’s Education WIDE World (Wide-scale Interactive Development for Educators) Professional Development program.