University of Pennsylvania

Forman Active Learning Classroom

Educational institutions must constantly evolve their pedagogical approach to meet or sometimes define how their respective discipline confronts the modern world. An old engineering library at the University of Pennsylvania was no longer being used in a meaningful way as an informational repository having been replaced by the accessibility of the internet as a research tool. Re-evaluating how valuable space is used, the Engineering school seeks to create an innovative teaching space for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) driven courses within the school.

Based on research that originated at North Carolina State University, the library space has been designed to facilitate "SCALE" (Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment) or "Active Learning" type teaching. This teaching method requires students to evaluate lecture content online in advance of the course meeting time. The class, with 90 students, is then organized around 9 person tables where multiple instructors engage the student in collaborative problem solving based on the previously reviewed lecture content. A sophisticated suite of technology enables for small scale digital work (laptops, tablets) as well as larger scale instruction to showcase examples of good solutions to the problems given.

Philadelphia, PA

Completed 2015

2017 Brooklyn AIA Merit Award Winner

The upper ceiling plane is inclined toward the head of the windows to reflect light deep into the space. The grand, existing windows are framed by razor thin frames that emphasize their verticality in relation to the strong horizontality of the room. The tables, designed for the space, seat nine students (an ideal number for 3-person collaborate groups) and are shaped to maximize sight lines in the long, narrow room.

When used for instruction, the windows are sheathed in gray shades and large white board door panels and recessed projection screens reveal large scale projections. Sculptural forms inflect upwards to reduce the vertical impact of projectors hanging from the ceiling. These recesses are painted a deep blue and collect all of the access doors necessary for maintaining the infrastructure of the technology classroom.

Existing windows are renewed with new full height casing and radiator panels that ground the historic cadence of the fenestration into the new contemporary renovation. Full walls of white boards, flush with adjacent wall surfaces, absorb the teaching functions within the architecture. Geometries and material transitions create flat compositions that change at different viewing distances.

At the entrance to the classroom, students are reminded of the important of knowledge and analog content. A bookshelf displays the writings of faculty members (past and present) in the School of Engineering. This also represents an acknowledgement of the previous life of the space as the school’s engineering library. 

Color and texture is introduced sparingly and in moments that reveal themselves in the functionality and flexibility of the room. LCD TV recesses are uncovered when sliding white board panels are opened (left) and blue is reveal in acoustic batten walls near the entrance to the classroom (right).

The classroom is accessed through new, large punched openings in a wall traditionally punctured by delicately detailed doorways. These new openings take their material cues from the original marble wainscot, reinterpreted in a contemporary manner, and afford vistas to the activity within.

The existing library was inefficiently used, dark, and anachronistic relative to contemporary engineering teaching and research methods. The new design harnesses the spatial strength of the existing room while creating a flexible space that encourages teaching and group study.

Photography By Devon Banks Photography

Photography By Don Pearse Photography

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