The Power of Student-Centered Design

The right architecture and design partner is crucial when building a facility that serves a specific educational philosophy. Here, we take a look at cutting-edge teaching and learning models and how space can, and should, be designed to advance instruction and student-centered learning.

SHP has designed private and public schools devoted to virtually every curriculum and pedagogy, from the classical to the up-and-coming: Montessori, Reggio Emilia, project-based learning (PBL), service-based, Learner in Me, Expeditionary Learning, religious, Waldorf, magnet, work-integrated learning/career tech and more. The schools our firm designs sit in both traditional and non-traditional communities and in urban, suburban and rural geographies. Some are fortunate enough to have their projects fully funded while others have required vast public support. Some comprise small renovations and others are completely new campuses. Fitting the puzzle together is, therefore, part of the reward for SHP.

“We love the challenge that each project presents, given its pedagogy and community,” says SHP president Jeffrey Sackenheim. “We take this—and more—into account as we design schools ‘from the student out’ versus forcing students into preconceived architectural solutions.”

Dive into our executive brief, Student-Centered Design: The Power of Designing from the Inside Out, and learn about our approach to the link between pedagogy and space.