Education
We partner with schools, colleges, and universities to design engaging, flexible, and resilient learning environments, drawing on our global research and multidisciplinary expertise to shape experiences that empower all students.
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The academic building of tomorrow will be even more radically different as young learners come to expect more of their learning environments when they reach the university level.
—Deborah Shepley, Education leader
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Wichita State University Barton School of Business
Wichita, Kansas
The W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University provides a flexible and collaborative faculty workplace for departments and administration.
West Virginia University Reynolds Hall, John Chambers College of Business and Economics
Morgantown, West Virginia
The goal of the John Chambers College of Business and Economics was to help WVU write its next chapter in business education in a new home, while transforming the campus, community of Morgantown, and student experience.
Tarrant County College Northwest Campus
Fort Worth, Texas
To enliven its Northwest Campus, Tarrant County College District is partnering with Gensler’s Education designers to redefine the student experience and showcase a 21st-century learning environment designed to align with the institution’s mission.
Tsinghua University School of Economics & Management
Beijing, China
Gensler’s design of the Tsinghua University School of Economics & Management campus building celebrates connectivity and serendipitous interactions through walkways, greenery, and landscaped spaces.
Southwestern College Student Union
Chula Vista, California
The Southwestern College (SWC) Student Union will become the heart of the school campus and provide students and faculty with a new space to engage, interact, and socialize.
Friendship Foundation Campus
Redondo Beach, California
Gensler’s Andy Cohen describes how the Friendship Foundation will transform the lives of people with special needs, their families, volunteers, and society.
WPI Unity Hall
Worcester, Massachusetts
Unity Hall is an academic research building, designed by Gensler, that focuses on computational-based technologies including robotics, data science, bioinformatics, and computational biology.
Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Heights Branch
Brooklyn, New York
Gensler’s redesign of the Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Heights Branch, the largest branch in Brooklyn, represents a welcoming change for the neighborhood landmark.
CSULB Parkside North Residence Hall and Housing Administration Building
Long Beach, California
California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) enlisted Gensler’s climate and sustainability services to help reach the university’s goal of achieving net-zero status by 2030.
Western Kentucky University Commons at Helm Library
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Fulfilling a desire to create a new destination for students, faculty, and the campus community, the Commons at Helm Library is a new intellectual hub at...
Chapter 510 – Swan’s Market
Oakland, California
Chapter 510 turned to Gensler again to design its new Writing Center located in downtown Oakland’s Swan’s Market.
Wake Tech Community College Hendrick Center for Automotive Excellence
Raleigh, North Carolina
The Wake Tech Community College Hendrick Center for Automotive Excellence facility not only addresses a growing student population, but showcases one of the most advanced automotive shop spaces in the region.
Columbia College Chicago Master Plan
Chicago, Illinois
Gensler transformed the look and feel of Columbia College’s campus through a new master plan, which follows the recent completion of a Student Center building.
University of Hawaii, West O'ahu Academy for Creative Media
Kapolei, Hawaii
The Academy for Creative Media is a nexus for filmmaking and computational media in Hawaii that is located on the West O’ahu campus of the University of Hawaii.
Georgetown Day School
Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1945 as the first racially integrated school in the nation's capital, Georgetown Day School continues to be a beacon of progressive education. To prepare for the next chapter in its remarkable history, the school engaged Gensler to unite its academic campus.
Western Kentucky University Campus Plan
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Gensler designed the Western Kentucky University Campus Master Plan as a visionary roadmap focused on the student experience.
Columbia College Chicago Student Center
Chicago, Illinois
Columbia College Chicago’s five-story, 114,000-square-foot student center is the first on its expansive urban campus since the school’s founding in 1890...
University of San Diego Learning Commons
San Diego, California
Gensler worked with the University of San Diego (USD) to program and design its new Learning Commons facility to address classroom capacity issues on campus as well as provide active and flexible spaces for interaction, study, and learning.
Toyohashi City Library
Aichi, Japan
Toyohashi City Library is a new destination for the community that revitalizes the city centre and offers a space where citizens of all ages want to gather.
Dwight-Englewood Village & Middle School
Englewood, New Jersey
The Dwight-Englewood Village & Middle School is a part of Gensler’s continuing work on the school’s master plan that seeks to bring the most innovative thinking on the future of education to the campus.
International Center of Photography
New York, New York
The world’s leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture, the International Center of Photography (ICP) enlisted Gensler to realize its 20-year goal of unifying its museum and school under one roof.
UCLA Anderson Marion Anderson Hall
Los Angeles, California
Gensler’s new Marion Anderson Hall is envisioned as a truly forward-looking environment for business education. Four stories of learning, administrative, and event spaces are organized around an active, interaction-focused atrium environment offering space for students, faculty, administrators, and visitors to network.
El Sewedy University
New Cairo, Egypt
El Sewedy University's Knowledge Hub aims to create educate and develop well-rounded citizens to meet the dynamic and challenging demands of the global job market by offering its students an integrated academic experience.
Lamar University Science and Technology Building
Beaumont, Texas
Lamar University's new Science and Technology Building displays science at the center of the school's emerging academic quad, while providing a transparent hub for scientific creativity that embodies a new paradigm for interaction, instruction, and research.
CCSD 22 Classroom Elementary School Addition Prototype
Las Vegas, Nevada
Two-story, 22-classroom additions are meeting a pressing need on Clark County School District Elementary School campuses. To accommodate growth in student...
Mesa College, Center for Business & Technology
San Diego, California
The Center for Business & Technology serves as a home to Mesa College's business, computer information science, multimedia, and fashion programs. The Center...
Chuo University Tama Campus Learning Center
Tokyo, Japan
In reevaluating the role and nature of Chuo University’s future campus, the purpose of the Learning Center became a learning and gathering space for all...
Client Services
Across the entire learning spectrum, we develop strategies and solutions that are purposeful, engaging, effective, sustainable, and future-proof.
Strategic Services
Our interdisciplinary and integrated team of architects, planners, designers, and strategists partners with clients to develop engagement strategies, educational planning, campus planning, and education design projects. Our expertise includes academic workplace design, space analytics, brand design, and change management.
Campus Planning
We collaborate with clients and communities to develop high-quality environments that respond to the aspirations and needs of users. Our campus planning approach is guided by research and an understanding of what makes an attractive place while responding to site-specific conditions and addressing sustainability.
Programming and Pre-Design
We generate innovative solutions that affect real transformation to support our clients’ visions and long-term strategies. We gather input from stakeholders to articulate a vision, define goals, build consensus, overlay the formative qualities of the site, and measure against budgets.
Architecture
Architecture is always in service to its institution and can elevate experience. Rather than employ a particular style or off-the-shelf solution, we create designs that respond to programs that sharpen, and even recast, the longstanding purpose of a place.
Interior Design
Our interior designers work collaboratively and strategically to deliver innovation, quality, and sustainable performance across various space typologies. We specify presentations and approvals throughout the process to ensure each design satisfies and reflects our clients’ unique missions and visions.
FF&E
As the world’s largest specifier of furniture, we understand that it must serve current and future generations and be adaptable to changing functions. Our specification process is centered around defining the space to select furniture that fits both the project and overall aesthetic.
Brand Design and Environmental Graphics
We integrate graphic design, signage and wayfinding, and architectural placemaking to create spaces with meaning and purpose. Gensler’s Brand Design practice provides specialist designers, strategists, and programmers to create a seamless user experience and unified brand impression.
Sustainability
We integrate sustainable design across our projects and all facets of service offerings to reduce energy and enhance wellness, performance, and quality of life. Teaming with our engineering partners, our holistic approach to sustainability focuses on net-zero, passive strategies, efficient systems, and renewable generation.
INSIGHTS
Blog
Designing for the Convergence of Science at The Engine
MIT’s The Engine enables scientists, engineers, academics, and business leaders to collaborate under one roof.
Blog
How Business Schools Fuel Innovation Ecosystems
By creating highly connective business school “ecosystems,” there is significant untapped potential to help cities and communities thrive.
Blog
To Foster an Engaged Student Body, Holistic Campus Design Is Key
To address declining enrollment and changing student expectations, higher education campus design should strive to build an engaged community.
Blog
Beyond Books, Libraries Are Vital Community Hubs
Beyond their traditional role as information providers, municipal libraries are uniquely positioned to have a positive impact on the communities they serve.
Blog
SHED: Connecting the Dots Between Education, Industry, and Technology
Blurring traditional boundaries between sciences will foster curiosity and exploration in new and emerging disciplines.
Blog
5 Ways Educational Anchor Institutions Can Catalyze Economic Recovery
As post-pandemic cities struggle to rebound, educational anchor institutions can be an important player in helping local economies recover.
Blog
Listening vs. Prescribing: Understanding How Students Perceive Education Spaces Today
To design schools where students feel like they truly belong, it is critical to hear directly from the students about their lived experiences.
Blog
Investing in Lifelong Learning Experiences to Reenergize our Workplaces
As a process, lifelong learning hasn’t translated itself into our culture or manifested itself in our everyday lives.
Blog
The Path Ahead: Leveraging Lessons for the Future of PreK-12 Learning
After more than two very challenging years for education, the question in front of us now is: what lessons have been learned about our children’s education and the role of schools in our communities?
Blog
4 Strategies for Amplifying Health and Well-being in Residence Halls
Gensler’s design for an on-campus housing project for CSULB takes a holistic approach to sustainability, focusing on student health, well-being, and equity.
Blog
Redefining Learning for the 21st Century
Right now, we have the perfect opportunity to reassess the learning process and take a broader view of what it means to be a learner in the post-pandemic age.
Blog
Building a Better Academic Workplace
The 1,000-year-old academic workplace might finally have reached its breaking point — here’s how to reengineer it in a smarter way.
Blog
Designing an Innovation District for the City of Austin
Austin’s Innovation District unites education, entertainment, leisure, and sports. This type of urban, mixed-use center brings in new business and diverse populations, while enhancing the culture of a city.
WEBINAR
Master Planning for the Whole Student: Well-Being and Inclusivity in Higher Education
Gensler’s Education leaders and administrators from top academic institutions share how colleges and universities can take a “whole student approach” to campus planning and design.
Research
Education Engagement Index 2022
We surveyed students, educators, and staff members at U.S.-based colleges and universities to understand their experiences and expectations for the future of higher education.
EDUCATION DESIGN TRENDS TO WATCH
The purpose of the campus is shifting to include more spaces that support students outside the classroom.
With increased choices for learning and working, the purpose of the physical campus is shifting to focus on building community — supporting relationships, motivation, and emotional well-being. Leading institutions are redesigning and investing in spaces that maximize student experiences, promote belonging, shed unneeded buildings, and reduce carbon footprints.
Hybrid is here to stay.
While the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may be with us for a long time, students and educators have demonstrated incredible resilience. The swift adoption and continued improvement of hybrid learning and working highlight the need to support a wide variety of needs and preferences. To attract students and retain employees, institutions need a range of space types that support participation.
Education pathways are expanding to prepare students for careers that don’t require degrees.
The cost of higher education and the growing need for high-tech skills that don’t require a degree are causing many students to reconsider college. High schools and community colleges are responding by providing programs and places for diverse learners to design their educational journeys that prepare them for meaningful careers.
Hybrid models are strongly preferred by students, educators, and staff. Campus communities seek a range of participation options for learning, teaching, and working.
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Gensler Education Engagement Index 2022
EDUCATION DESIGN LEADERSHIP
Deborah Shepley
Education Leader, Principal
Based out of Gensler’s Newport Beach office, Deborah is a Principal and Global Education Practice Area Leader who has partnered with over 45 higher education institutions to...
Mark Thaler
Education Leader, Studio Director, Principal
With over 30 years of experience, Mark is the global co-leader of Gensler’s Education practice and is one of the firm’s experts in the design of learning environments and student...
NEWS
In The Media
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Retrofit Magazine
Gensler Partnered With Western Kentucky University To Reimagine the Helm Library
Gensler and Western Kentucky University rethink the typical notion of a library by developing a concept that balances the relationship between social and intellectual space.
September 11, 2023
In The Media
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The Dallas Morning News
Designed by Gensler, Frisco Public Library Opens as the Sixth Largest Library in Texas
The Dallas Morning News quoted Gensler’s Justin Bashaw, who shared insights on the design vision for the new Frisco Public Library.
March 17, 2023
In The Media
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The New York Times
How Public Libraries Play an Outsize Role in Supporting Local Communities
The New York Times explored how public libraries offer services and safety, and featured Gensler’s design of the Brooklyn Heights Library.
March 10, 2023
In The Media
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Latest Finance
Key Strategies for Designing Academic Research Institutions That Stimulate Innovation
The Gensler Education Engagement Index found a correlation between inspirational spaces and engagement in academic and research environments.
February 10, 2023
In The Media
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Aoyama Design Forum
Machinaka Library, Designed by Gensler Tokyo, Was Recognized With Top International Awards for Its Interior Design
The Gensler-designed library in Toyohashi City received top honors from the International Interior Design Association and American Institute of Architects as well as Interior Design Magazine.
January 04, 2023
Recognition
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Building Design+Construction
Gensler
Building Design+Construction recognized Gensler as the #1 firm on its 2022 list of the top firms in the university sector.
August 22, 2022
In The Media
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Education Snapshots
The West Coast University Campus Provides a Connected and Energized Campus Experience
By prioritizing the student experience, Gensler transformed a commercial office building into an activated learning ecosystem.
July 19, 2022
In The Media
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The Architect's Newspaper
Brooklyn Public Library Opens Its New Gensler-Designed Brooklyn Heights Branch
The largest Brooklyn Public Library branch location features a reading room, community event space, and ample “bright, airy spaces” to browse, create, and read.
June 08, 2022
In The Media
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Fort Worth Daily News
Frisco Public Library Gives New Life to a Former Rocket Manufacturing Facility In Texas
Gensler Dallas’ adaptive reuse of a rocket manufacturing facility transformed the space into a library, which offers a nod to a vanishing prairie landscape.
May 30, 2022
In The Media
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Architectural Products
Gensler’s Mark Thaler Discusses Designing for Student Living and Learning Communities
Gensler designed Lynn University Mary and Harold Perper Residence Hall into smaller-scaled communities so that “students can belong to and connect with each other at different scales.”
October 25, 2021
In The Media
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Banker & Tradesman
Higher Education is Ready to Resume Growth Plans
Gensler’s Ken Fisher talks with Banker & Tradesman about higher education campus and building trends.
August 29, 2021
In The Media
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Inhabitat
Cal State Long Beach’s On-Campus Housing Supports The University’s Carbon-Zero Goals
The highly sustainable design of CSULB’s student housing building contributes to the university’s goal to have the entire campus reach carbon-zero status by 2030.
August 27, 2021
In The Media
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Building Design+Construction
CSU Long Beach’s New Student Housing Project Is One of California’s Most Sustainable
BD+C spotlighted Gensler’s design of CSULB’s Residence Hall and Housing Administration Building, which is pursuing LEED Platinum and Living Building Challenge Certifications.
August 09, 2021
In The Media
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Oculus
How Design Can Build an Optimistic, Equitable Future for Education
In an op-ed for Oculus, Gensler Education Leader Mark Thaler discusses challenges around equity and designing learning spaces to support all students.
July 21, 2021