To prepare students to solve the world’s most complex challenges, education is more collaborative and grounded in real-world learning than ever before. To address these changes, we work with leading education clients to develop environments that foster active engagement, interdisciplinary problem-solving and dynamic learning experiences.

Serving as close advisors, NBBJ’s education practice provides unique insights to improve and enhance each academic project. A deep knowledge of the field helps us balance functional and practical requirements with uplifting, healthy design. Our understanding of what it takes to plan, develop and deliver all aspects of a project—whether a new build or complex renovation—allows us to prepare universities, colleges and K-12 schools for the next generation of learning and teaching.

Design Perspectives for Education

This call for greater alignment of values extends to equitable and accessible design. Through a responsive approach that reflects the unique needs of the region, the design of the University of California San Diego Viterbi Family Vision Research Center advances the Department of Ophthalmology’s mission to promote treatment across all areas of eye care, in addition to engaging low-income black communities through an outreach program to engage their voices and ideas into the design process.

Increased legislation around carbon reduction coupled with the desire from students and faculty to attend and work for an institution that aligns with their values is driving environmentally sensitive buildings. For example, the recently completed Tang Hall Addition at Cornell University’s College of Engineering in New York adheres to Ithaca’s strict energy code requirements. A 20% window-to-wall ratio minimizes thermal loss and building systems integrate with Cornell’s existing lake-sourced chilled water and future ground-sourced warm water systems.

Engagement between departments is a priority in university environments, with buildings designed to accommodate multiple groups and to encourage collaboration. For example, to foster connections between research and education, the University of Oxford Life and Mind Sciences Building unites dynamic labs and office spaces that can be easily reconfigured to serve new purposes beyond its intention of uniting the departments of experimental psychology, plant sciences and zoology.

Historic buildings can lend character to educational settings, while updated interiors allow for new ways of learning and gathering. At the renovated Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground (HTC) at Boston University, originally designed by Albert Kahn in 1927 as a Cadillac-Oldsmobile dealership, former spaces are repositioned to better showcase the center’s activities and initiatives. Program, facade and accessibility upgrades allow for greater ease of use and, due to the reuse of historic building components and materials, the HTC has lower embodied energy compared to new construction.

Work and Ideas

All Work and Ideas

University of Oxford, Life and Mind Building

A New Lease on Life: How Renewing Academic Labs Enhances Value and Amplifies Discovery

University of Idaho, Integrated Research and Innovation Center

UC San Diego Viterbi Family Vision Research Center

Suffolk University Leonard J. Samia Academic Center at 20 Somerset Street

Renovation of the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground

Article

Diverse Teams Drive Better Projects. Here’s How to Get the Most from an Integrated Partnership.

Westmark School

Stanford University, Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge

UCLA, Pauley Pavilion Renovation and Expansion

University of California, San Diego, Calit2

City, University of London Main Entrance Transformation Project

Education Leaders

Cathy Bell, AIA, LEED AP

Principal | Firmwide Science and Education Practice Leader

Darius Umrigar, RIBA

Principal I Firmwide Science and Education Practice Leader

Beth Wilson-Shunta, AIA

Firmwide Education Practice Leader

Megha Sinha, AICP, LEED AP

Principal | Firmwide Urban Environments Practice Leader

Will Voulgaris, AIA

Principal | Education Market Leader

Featured Project

University of Oxford, Life and Mind Building

The Life and Mind Sciences Building, the largest-ever construction project at the University of Oxford, will create a hub that unites the departments of experimental psychology, plant sciences and zoology when it opens in 2025.

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