Piazza Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones

The majority of space in the Piazza Building is made up of seminar rooms - over 30 in total - which will seat about 20 people in a horseshoe setup similar to that used in the Spring Lane Building. The success of the Spring Lane Building provides a great blueprint for the planning for the Piazza Building.

Inspiration from the Spring Lane Building

The continuing use of ‘desk style’ teaching positions as part of the horseshoe setup has been popular, so will be continued. The ‘windows’ to the interior of the building have also been well received - students being able to spot empty rooms and make use of them has been mentioned repeatedly in feedback, and the Spring Lane Building’s heavy usage (already among the heaviest on campus!) owes significantly to them so they’ll be repeated and enlarged in the new building.

One of the lessons learned from the Spring Lane Building has been that power provision for laptops is important in seminar rooms, as students might have a couple of 2-3 hour seminars in a day, with no chance to recharge laptops in between. Originally, the Piazza seminar rooms had been designed with ample plug sockets - in some cases, enough for one per person. However, having considered concerns relating to trailing cables, Helen and I have been tasked with investigating furniture with integrated power, which will allow a socket at every seat. Should it be successful, it will be something that we can look at retrofitting elsewhere in our learning estate.

Turning to the technology, our recommendation that we explore wireless presentation receivers was well received. Hopefully a subject of their own article in the new year, inclusion of these in each room would free the lecturer to deliver from anywhere in the room as well as facilitating the use of touchscreen laptops or tablets to enable a more interactive style of teaching. We’ll also be looking to include a digital OHP in every room, as well as Replay functionality (watch this space for articles on those subjects too!) throughout.

Next, a look at the 350-seat lecture theatre.

Eve

Update from the Learning Spaces Working Group meeting on 14 November 2016

As previously reported the working group has been looking to address your Spring Lane Building feedback.

We have a limited amount of funding remaining and after reviewing the available options, the group have individually prioritised each option. The scores have been counted and the following works are now progressing.


1. Progressing a fit-out proposal for tables and benches with integrated power provision for the atrium (under the main stairs for the building). This should be in place by the end of February 2017.

Option 1

Option 2

2. Extra touch-down/study furniture on first and second levels including looking out through the glazing (north and south):

3. Extra furniture outside the first floor lecture theatre entrance:

4. Extra furniture to provide an additional 28 seat in the study space, including some of the popular ‘Cube’ chairs as seen in the Harry Fairhurst learning space:

The items marked in colour will be added to the existing furniture (shown in grey)

5. Extra furniture outside the ground floor lecture theatre exit (vending area)

6. Internal and external signage updates

7. Artwork/branding on the lecture theatre walls to break up white space

8. An additional table in each seminar room alcove for papers, artefacts, catering, etc

9. Kitchenette provision in or around SLB/010 for staff and student use for light refreshments - this was highly requested our Students’ Union representatives and will take some time to provide in the correct location

10. Additional furniture outside the study space to extend it:

Furniture is typically on an eight-week lead time so we hope to have some of these items in place during the start of the Spring Term 2017.

Please do keep your feedback coming to learning-spaces@york.ac.uk

Best wishes,

Matt

Chair of the Learning Spaces Working Group

Springing into action on your feedback

We are now well into the Autumn term and your feedback on the Spring Lane Building has been heard!

We now have an action log of 52 suggestions (we heard about some items quite a few times but they are only recorded on the list once) that the Learning Spaces Working Group received this Monday, for decision on how we progress them. Some are already compete (thanks to colleagues within Estates and Campus Services for acting so promptly when they were received). Here is a sample of the items.

Complete

• Clocks
  There is now one installed in each seminar room.
• Water fountains and drink/snack vending machines
  We have installed vending machines and water fountains are now available on each level.
• Add the building to the campus map
  The building is now marked on the interactive campus map, and updated pdfs will be online very soon.
• Magnets for the whiteboards in the seminar rooms
  We have added a supply to each room.
• More waste bins in the building
  We have reviewed the provision and installed additional as required, including some new external bins.

In progress

• Gender neutral toilet provision in the building
  We designed this from the outset by putting in full-height cubicles throughout and as well as eight neutral and accessible toilets within the building. After consultation with the Equality and Diversity Office, we propose to convert the middle floor to fully gender neutral.
• More parking in the area
  We are in the process of removing the site cabins from the central car park and will then re-instate the parking spaces in the area.
• More seating in the building, especially after climbing the stairs
  We are in the process of procuring additional seating for use throughout the building.
• Additional bike storage outside the building
  The building’s Facilities Manager is working on this with the University’s Travel and Transport Manager.
• More signage in the building, particularly to the toilets and the lecture theatre entrance
  The Facilities Manager is working on this.
• Mobile whiteboards for the study area on the top floor
  We’ve placed an order for these.
• More technology in the teaching rooms (digital overhead projectors)We have placed the order to increase the quantity of ‘visualisers’.
• Food/drink preparation facilities
  We are investigating installing a small kitchenette in the building - with hot (boiling) water, a sink, etc.

Not able to progress

• A cash machine in the building
  Unfortunately this would take up valuable space in the building and there are a number in neighbouring Vanbrugh College and Market Square.
• Urinals in the men’s toilets
  We designed this building to be able to function as fully gender neutral in the future and so did not provide these. There is a high quantity of individual cubicles as a result.
• Indoor wildlife (and puppies)
  As we are based on a beautiful parkland estate, the group felt that we would not progress the request at this time.

We really value your feedback. Please keep it coming!


Best wishes,

Matt.

Your seat at the table - have your say on the future of our learning spaces

As part of our ongoing commitment to staff and student consultation, we're undertaking a week of activity to seek feedback on the use of learning space within the Spring Lane Building and future developments.

Come along to the Spring Lane Building (map) between today and Friday 18 November to tell us about your 'must have' and 'could have' room facilities, and take part in our 'House of Chairs' vote.

We'll also be conducting face-to-face surveys in the building and circulating an online survey to recent Spring Lane room users.

The feedback will be used to help us understand how you're using the new building as shaping future projects like the Piazza Learning Centre.

We look forward to hearing what you have to say!

Spring Lane has landed

What a month September was for us! Cutting a very long story short, the handover of the building was delayed and we took practical completion on Friday 30 September, with the doors opening for the first sessions by 9am on Monday 3 October (Week 2).

Huge thanks to everyone involved in the project - it was such a fantastic team effort and special shout-outs must go firstly to our in-house Learning Spaces and AV team who built and installed the equipment in the learning spaces, and to our Facilities Manager John Maddison who is in the building most days making sure things are working as they should.

We still have lots to finish off (defects/snags) but the learning spaces themselves are receiving some fantastic feedback on twitter, email and on the feedback board we have in the Atrium.

Here are a sample of some of the comments:

We’re going through all of these and will take the feedback to the Learning Spaces Working Group, so we can look at how we can address items. More ‘You said, we did’ to come! For example, the water fountains are being installed very soon, the vending machines are almost operational and we have a Multi-Functional Device (MFD) going on the top floor of the building for printing, photocopying and scanning.

One of my personal favourites for the building: our first video wall on campus! You will see some great content coming this way in the future. We’re also busy installing other digital display screens around the building to show ‘what’s happening’ right now along with other messaging to keep staff and students in the loop.

Make sure you pop in and have a look around if you get the chance, and we’d love to hear from you. Please let us know what you like and what you think could be improved!

Matt Burton

Spring Lane Building: working group site visit and building progress

On 14 June, members of the Spring Lane Building Steering Group and the Learning Spaces Working Group were given the opportunity to go on a tour to see the progress of the new Spring Lane Teaching Building. Donning the obligatory PPE, we were led around the building site by a Graham Construction representative.

Amid the noise and liveliness of the busy site, It was great to finally get a feeling for what the spaces will be like.

Lecture theatre

The 350 seat lecture theatre is really starting to take shape, with its curved design clearly visible.

Seminar rooms

The generously-sized seminar rooms were even further along, with carpets laid and the first coats of paint in the vibrantly coloured alcoves on the walls. The ceiling baffles really give the rooms a modern and airy feel.

Atrium

The glazed atrium was particularly impressive - even without the central staircase! It will be a fantastic, bright space once the scaffolding comes down. In the second photo you can see all three floors.

Informal study space

The informal study space above the lecture theatre makes excellent use of the views across the canopy of trees and will definitely become a popular place to relax or study.

There’s still a lot to be done before the start of term in September, but it’s exciting to see how the building has already come together so quickly. We’ll definitely be keeping an eye on its progress and hopefully the Group will be able to go on another visit later in the summer - watch this space!

Geoff

How we allocate teaching space and who will be in the Spring Lane Building next year

We all want the best space to operate out of (he says writing this blog post from a basement). So it’s only natural that we have the question posed quite regularly about how and who has the different learning spaces allocated on campus.

Timetabling Principles

Our University Teaching Committee receives and approves the annual Space Management/Timetabling report and periodically reviews the Timetabling Principles that we operate by at York. The two principles that directly apply to the space allocation are:

7.  Where competing demand for spaces with specific facilities (including large boards, chalk surfaces, blackout curtains, etc) exists, sessions requiring these facilities will take priority during the timetable construction. These requirements should be identified during the annual timetable construction round. If demand for a particular space outstrips supply and cannot be accommodated through the provision of additional equipment, sessions shall be prioritised with the needs of the session size foremost. As far as possible, sessions will be located in the most appropriate and geographically close location to the department home zone.

8. Space utilisation must be maximised within the constraints of these principles, with all non-specialist space to be available for general use outside teaching activities. Space utilisation will be audited at least once a year and reported to the University Teaching Committee (UTC). 

If we apply this to the Spring Lane Building we have the following specific facilities that come into play:

• A 350-seat lecture theatre, with blackout, and board replacement technology (a large, digital overhead projector)
• 23 seminar rooms, of which eight have full blackout and larger screen/projection facilities. All in boardroom seminar format for up to 20
• Three experimental spaces (which for the purposes of this blog post I will exclude)

So when it comes to the lecture theatre, by and large we are seeking to house the cohort sizes that require this size provided by the lecture theatre first, then utilising the remaining capacity. Given the board replacement technology the theatre has the potential to work for most teaching delivered at this size. A store room to the undercroft of the lecture theatre seating allows for storing science experiments too!

The 23 seminar rooms are most likely to be the highly contended spaces. They complement our existing learning space capacity with the same facilities and, broadly speaking, we have aimed to allocate the activities that require these evenly. Taking the timetabling principle into account though, the departments closest to the building (ie in the ‘home zone’) may have a higher density of activity.

Actual usage of the Spring Lane Building

For the first year of operation, eight of the top floor seminar rooms are set aside for use by the International Pathway College’s inaugural year. Any further need will be accommodated in capacity throughout the learning and teaching estate as needed.

The headline figures for the number of hours booked in the building so far for next year are below (this includes all year round, evenings, vacation time known so far).

Department/centre	Booked hours
Centre for Applied Human Rights	261
Centre for English Language Teaching	187
Centre for Global Programmes	342
Centre for Lifelong Learning (predominantly outside of teaching hours)	4173
Economics	745
Education	572
Electronics	403
English and Related Literature	519
Environment	28
Health Sciences	853
History	333
History of Art	502
Languages and Linguistics	447
Mathematics	122
Philosophy	585
Politics	982
Politics, Economics and Philosophy	314
Social Policy and Social Work	670
Sociology	421
Support - Admissions (predominantly outside of teaching hours)	4531
Support - General room bookings	450
Support - Exams	65
Support - Central booking including IPC allocations	3700
Centre for Women’s Studies	15

As you can see, a fairly good amount of hours for departments that suit the type of learning space provided.

Matt.

Spring Lane Building - sample room layouts and working group update

The Learning Spaces Working Group met following a recent site visit and have ratified a lot of the small detail recommendations from the day.

The big topic of discussion was the final recommendation to put to the Steering Group with the quantity and preferred style of layout of rooms as discussed in the last blog post.

Here are some pictures:

Agile Lab

One of the suggested layouts for a lounge/film screening room

Workshop

High quality, flexible seminar room layout (note the chairs / furniture are for illustration - we actually have our nice Torsion Air chairs, bespoke tables and benches

The same room in a flexible, collaborative layout without moving any heavy furniture

We hope to receive the go-ahead from the Steering Group shortly!

Matt.

Spring Lane Building - furniture update

On Tuesday 28 June, a delegation from the Learning Spaces Working Group took a day out of the diaries to travel to sunny* Macclesfield, to be hosted by Broadstock Office Furniture, the successful tenderers for the Spring Lane Building.

We spent a number of hours trying out lots of samples of chairs, collaborative furniture and the bespoke seminar room table we have had designed for the building.

*not so sunny

Seminar chairs

We are ordering almost 500 of these chairs, so as a working group we were committed to selecting the correct chair the fit the brief we had produced: putting comfort and durability first.

After testing a number of chairs, the group settled on a version of the Torsion Air chair (pictured below), without castors (we hate castors!) and with a fabric to match the colour palette of the building. These were by far the most comfortable chair, a very comfortable mesh back (which surprised us - we were looking for upholstered) and they have some movement in the back which worked really well.  To top things off they carry a 12 year guarantee!

The chair frames will be black, with a black mesh back and fabric seat base.

We have a number of other learning spaces upgrades this summer and we will aim to use the same seminar chair, as far as appropriate, in these spaces too.

Seminar tables

We have had a bespoke table made for the seminar rooms - with solid wooden legs (which match the trim colour of the seminar room doors) and a walnut top (to match the main room doors). They look mighty fine, if we do say so ourselves!  Good job we tested these out though - the beam under the table needs a minor adjustment to be completely clear of tall people’s knees!

One of the great things about these tables, we feel, is that they take on board the feedback we have received from users of our whole estate. Specifically they are solid and do not pivot in the middle. They are not on wheels. The frame design is such that you can sit at any of the four sides of the table and fit underneath without hitting a leg (or support beam now!)

We’re also putting in a couple of low-level benches in each room too, on the inside of the horseshoe, so that classes can move about without moving the chairs - allowing a large group to breakout at different points in the session.

Professor John Robinson, Lee Woodall (Broadstock), Ruth Hale and Thomas Ron consider the the chosen ‘Torsion Air’. You can see the table and matching bench in the background.

Agile/Experimental spaces

Broadstock presented the Working Group with four samples to work with (pictures to follow):

1. A small raked lecture room that can break into collaborative mode, moving people (not furniture).  So the front row is standard table height and chair, progressively increasing in height until the back row is ‘poser’ height.
2. A workshop layout, with 5-6 ‘plectrum’ tables that we may technology-enable.  This would work for a true collaborative layout although would not comfortably function for a round-table discussion.  Frames would be white to match the tables.
3. A casual seminar room - using soft seating in a teardrop / horse-shoe, with a selection of writing surfaces but more ‘lounge’ like.

The working group are recommending we proceed with 3 x experimental / agile seminar layouts and 23, high quality boardroom seminars.  This will be decided by the Steering Group next Monday.  We will look to replace furniture elsewhere on campus if/as/when new furniture layouts/styles are required to fit with the new York Pedagogy roll-out.

Informal Learning spaces

Thankfully for the group, Liz Waller, Deputy Director of Information Services had taken a day last week to visit ahead of the working group delegation, creating detailed plans for the main flexible learning spaces with a blend of:

• Informal group/lounge furniture
• Individual workspaces (tables and chairs)
• Individual lounge chairs
• Print/copy area fit out

Utilising the similar furniture, a number of smaller touch-down areas exist in the building and will follow the same format.

During the visit, the delegation decided to recommend that the ‘Reception’ area of the building be deferred until the main central stairs were installed, to see how the building feels in that area first.

Colour scheme

Everyone’s favourite topic!

The Spring Lane Building has an autumnal theme of mellow yellow, burnt orange, tree green, red and grey. Broadstock presented a number of palette swatches and the delegation supported the closest matching palette, as previously outlined in the design intent document for the building and agreed by the working group.

Thanks to Liz, John Robinson, John Maddison, Jeanne Nuechterlein, Geoff Krauss, Sarah Bacsich, Ruth Hale and YUSU officer Thomas Ron for taking time for the visit. And to colleagues Lee and Wendy at Broadstock for hosting us.

We’re excited that the building is really coming together now. The furniture is due to arrive in early September, with plenty of time to spare before the first use early October. We can't wait for you to see it!

Matt

New Spring Lane photos and visuals

These great photos by Eve Firth from the Audio Visual team and visuals by Race Cottam show just how quickly the Spring Lane Building building team is starting to bring the designs to life.

The building's circulation areas have an open layout...

...which will be flooded in light thanks to the building's glass roof

The building has a large, open entranceway...

....which will feature bright pops of colour

The lecture theatre is starting to take shape...

...with striking autumnal colours planned for the seating

We have more site visits planned soon, so we'll make sure to keep posting photos as we take them.

Our brief for the Spring Lane Building’s learning technology (audio visual)

The working group has spent some time discussing the type of technology and supporting provision that should be within each space. In an earlier article I covered the lecture theatre but by far the largest provision of technology will be within the seminar rooms: 26 of them in total, representing 520 seats’ worth of space.

Big ideas: the seminar rooms will feature large 'think walls', ensuring there is plenty of board space for group work

Taking on board earlier feedback from academic members of the group, the brief included:

• an integrated workstation that should be part of the furniture provision in the room (ie staff and students in rooms will be in a circle together)
• ample (and maximum) writing board surface at the front of the room, able to operate with the (requested 2.5mtr) screen in the middle
• continuous ‘think walls’ (whiteboards) at the rear of the rooms, allowing group work to take place with lots of board space to use
• future provision for, and integration with, the Lecture Recording (Replay) service as standard
• high-quality hearing loops in the ground and top floors
• more experimental technology within the three seminar rooms above the lecture theatre
• high-quality digital signage around the building, including a welcome/video wall for both University messaging and student use
• suitably ‘bright’ projectors that are fully legible and compliant to recommended viewing standards in the room (size/dimension and distance from front to back of the room)

The AV provision should also be:

• secure by design
• high quality and durable 
• low energy usage (incorporating occupancy detection, etc)

This tender has now concluded and Universal AV were successful in their bid. Steve Jackson (Learning Spaces Projects Manager) and colleagues are now actively engaging with UAV and the builders of the Spring Lane Building, to make sure everything is where it needs to be for successful ‘1st fix’ to commence soon (that’s the cabling, brackets and other bits that go in before the actual hardware).

I’m sure Steve will provide you with more technical detail soon.

All the best,

Matt

Spring Lane Building furniture procurement exercise

As mentioned in previous posts, the Learning Spaces Working Group is passionate about transforming the learning spaces we have on campus - and making a huge wave in this effort through the introduction of the Spring Lane Building.

I often see that furniture is often one of the last elements to a) be decided upon for a building and b) arrive at a building and but also c) be an easy option to cut when money starts running short.

We have a commitment from the Steering Group that both a) and c) will not happen.

As a working group, we have spent a long time exploring what makes a good learning space. Often it is easier to say what doesn't, or what you didn't enjoy. We also received great feedback through the Autumn Term Learning Spaces Roadshows and the direct feedback canvassed for the D/056 and V/044 full refurbishment consultation.

Our Spring Lane learning spaces, in particular the seminar rooms, will be the new generation of size and dimension (applying our new Space Norms). Already the early visitors to the spaces believe they feel ‘large’. Well, without anything in them they are big empty boxes, but, they’re our empty boxes and purpose designed. The furniture will be too.

We have a limited budget but are determined to get the best out of it. After many months of discussion the working group generated the following brief for the procurement exercise. We hope you agree (but if not, please do reply so we keep track of this feedback):

The building and fit out should:

• Be high quality and durable
• Use inspirational design: not institutional or corporate and avoid the traditional (price-driven) table and chairs that are usually bought
• Be esigned for/fit for purpose first, over considerations of flexibility (movement) of furniture
• Encourage people movement rather than furniture movement and thus reduce both time lost in-session and on-going facilities costs
• Fit with the building’s overall natural feel - including the walnut of the doors

We should avoid these features:

• Flip-top chairs
• Plastic backed (non-upholstered) - mesh may be suitable subject to testing
• Centre pivot flip tables
• All the same (even on one floor)

Seminar rooms should:

• Seat (min) 20 people comfortably that allows the whole group to converse together, without any backs to the ‘front’ of the room
• Allow free and easy movement around the room by both student and tutor - eg not have a cluster within a cluster
• Aim to be progressive as far as possible. It is suggested we may pitch for:
• Ground floor ‘traditional’ with more ease of furniture movement - with a view to supporting non-teaching activity eg conferencing or other events we may run
• Middle floor ‘traditional/progressive’  - may be harder to re-arrange furniture, but not impossible
• Top floor ‘progressive’ - fixed furniture design, does what is advertised
• Demonstrate larger capacities without compromising the above
• Where possible, integrate the AV console into the design, so the tutor is part of the discussion in addition to the ability for stand-up presentation
• Where possible, offer integrated power solutions and safely tether to the provided power in the room

Experimental learning spaces

Further to the main seminar rooms, the three learning spaces above the lecture theatre are our opportunity to support new learning styles. We welcome truly creative opportunities that embrace technology - for example, interactive workshop space with technology enabled group working.  For these the capacity should be around 30 student.

Social learning spaces

The Deputy Director of Information is leading this area of the design - utilising the recent years of developments in the Library, and success therein, to build on.

The furniture tender is now live and we will be engaging with the successful company over the next few months, including open sessions, to select the products that will define York learning spaces and your experience. Your feedback will be invaluable in this process.

Matt