Education

The Experimental, Experiential Office: What Workplace Can Learn from Retail, Education, and Airports
INSIGHT

The Experimental, Experiential Office: What Workplace Can Learn from Retail, Education, and Airports

Gensler’s workplace leaders share what they’ve learned from helping clients across multiple industries navigate the new workplace ecosystem.

Building a Better Academic Workplace
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.

Master Planning for the Whole Student: Well-Being and Inclusivity in Higher Education
INSIGHT

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...

Designing an Innovation District for the City of Austin
BLOG

Designing an Innovation District for the City of Austin

Austin’s Innovation District brings together education, entertainment, leisure, and sports. This type of urban, mixed-use center brings in new...

3 Lessons From Today’s Students That Will Shape the Future Workplace
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3 Lessons From Today’s Students That Will Shape the Future Workplace

Coupling findings from Gensler’s Workplace Survey and Education Engagement Index research, we’ve identified three key findings that the future...

2022
DESIGN FORECAST

2022

Design Forecast focuses on design strategies that will define the future of the human experience. With strategic advice, research, and projects from...

Learning From Home: 3 Key Lessons for the Future of PreK-12 Learning
BLOG

Learning From Home: 3 Key Lessons for the Future of PreK-12 Learning

How can the experience of working, parenting, teaching, and learning from home inform opportunities for future learning environments? Here are three...

Design Forecast 2022: Education
INSIGHT

Design Forecast 2022: Education

As students look to schools not just as places of learning — but as places to feel safe, engaged, and included — there will be an ongoing emphasis on...

How Architects and Designers Can Continue to Prioritize Inclusivity in 2022
BLOG

How Architects and Designers Can Continue to Prioritize Inclusivity in 2022

Roger Smith and Lisa Cholmondeley, co-directors of Gensler’s Center for Research on Equity and the Built Environment, talk about designing for...

Reflecting on the First Year of Black Lives and Design Grants
BLOG

Reflecting on the First Year of Black Lives and Design Grants

Gensler’s Black Lives and Design grants fund research dedicated to addressing systemic racism, unconscious bias, and social justice.

Campus Masterplan 2.0: Including an Integrated Wellness Strategy
BLOG

Campus Masterplan 2.0: Including an Integrated Wellness Strategy

Today's student is different. By creating a network of engagements and reinforcements throughout a student’s daily journey, academic institutions can...

Education and the BIPOC Experience
RESEARCH

Education and the BIPOC Experience

We surveyed BIPOC students to understand how they perceive and experience education spaces in order to find new ways to design schools that make all...

Why Understanding the BIPOC Student Experience Is Critical to the Future of Education
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Why Understanding the BIPOC Student Experience Is Critical to the Future of Education

With a research grant from Gensler’s Center for Research on Equity and the Built Environment, this research aims to understand the complexities of...

5 Considerations for Designing the Future of Higher Education
BLOG

5 Considerations for Designing the Future of Higher Education

Learning has taken a hard hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the experience may lead to a future that is nothing like the past.

Education Engagement Index 2021
RESEARCH

Education Engagement Index 2021

A deep dive into how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted students and educators, and what these experiences reveal about the evolving future of...

Delivering Wellness on Campus so Students Can Thrive
BLOG

Delivering Wellness on Campus so Students Can Thrive

Here are five considerations for colleges and universities to create a campus-wide wellness ecosystem that supports students where they are.

The Inclusion Utopia: Promoting a More Equitable and Inclusive Experience for Athletes
BLOG

The Inclusion Utopia: Promoting a More Equitable and Inclusive Experience for Athletes

With over 100 anti-trans bills across the United States, we sought to understand how design can create opportunities for an inclusive and safe locker...

What’s Next for Higher Education? Esports and On-Campus Gaming Facilities
BLOG

What’s Next for Higher Education? Esports and On-Campus Gaming Facilities

Prior to the pandemic, the world of esports was a nearly billion-dollar industry. For higher education institutions, it also created a new...

Hybrid Learning in Extreme Times
RESEARCH

Hybrid Learning in Extreme Times

Investigating the effects of remote learning on student and educator experience.

How New Learning Models Are Transforming the Student Experience
BLOG

How New Learning Models Are Transforming the Student Experience

From micro-pods to new hybrid learning settings, new ideas are emerging about the student experience of the future.

New Types of Space on Campus
BLOG

New Types of Space on Campus

After spending more than eight months studying the shifting space needs at colleges and universities, we see several trends shaping the next...

Learning About Resilience at the UCLA Congo Basin Institute
BLOG

Learning About Resilience at the UCLA Congo Basin Institute

Funded by the University of California at Los Angeles and the Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the Congo Basin Institute is a research and...

Learning from the Pandemic to Create More Equitable Community Engagement
BLOG

Learning from the Pandemic to Create More Equitable Community Engagement

It’s important to understand how changes to community engagement best practices can be purposefully designed to create a more equitable process that...

Design Ideas for the Post-Pandemic Public Library
BLOG

Design Ideas for the Post-Pandemic Public Library

Public libraries have long served as welcoming and equitable settings that offer important community resources, but the ongoing coronavirus health...

How Education Can Build an Optimistic, Equitable Future
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How Education Can Build an Optimistic, Equitable Future

How can we impart positive change on our schools, colleges, and universities, to ultimately shape more equitable communities?

6 Considerations for Transitioning Back to School
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6 Considerations for Transitioning Back to School

Here are some tools and considerations to guide academic institutions in transitioning back to campus.

Why Today’s Universities Need to Be Global Institutions
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Why Today’s Universities Need to Be Global Institutions

How can universities mitigate a potential downturn? The answer is transnational education.

A Day in the Life: Going Back to School in China
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A Day in the Life: Going Back to School in China

Here’s what we've learned from our colleagues in Gensler’s Shanghai office about school reopenings in China.

What Going Back to School Might Look Like
BLOG

What Going Back to School Might Look Like

What does the future of education look like, and what should schools be doing now to prepare?

Planning for a Post-COVID Return to Campus
BLOG

Planning for a Post-COVID Return to Campus

We're reflecting on the factors education leaders should consider in planning a return to school post-COVID-19, and what we can learn from this...

Graduation Goes Digital for the Class of 2020
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Graduation Goes Digital for the Class of 2020

How can we use digital technologies to push events like virtual graduation ceremonies beyond traditional thinking?

Will Campus Life Translate to a Virtual Environment?
BLOG

Will Campus Life Translate to a Virtual Environment?

COVID-19 has forced us to embrace a new reality rooted exclusively in virtual interactions. While we reflect on how educational institutions...

We Are in the Midst of a Paradigm Shift for Higher Education
BLOG

We Are in the Midst of a Paradigm Shift for Higher Education

As we make short-term decisions to respond to the global pandemic, we will also have a long-term opportunity to reinvent the traditional university...

Schooling Kids in the Power of Design
BLOG

Schooling Kids in the Power of Design

Our long-standing partnership with City Year aims to transform educational spaces with heart for the next generation.

Designing for All Learners: 5 Myths Debunked
BLOG

Designing for All Learners: 5 Myths Debunked

Instead of designing to the mythical “average learner” and adapting to accommodate outliers, it’s time we flip the model and design for all learners.

Designing for Each Learner Through Digital Experience
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Designing for Each Learner Through Digital Experience

As we design spaces for learning it is imperative that we integrate digital experiences into them thoughtfully; to connect people, accommodating...

Building a More Inclusive University Environment
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Building a More Inclusive University Environment

Small universities are having a hard time providing physical space for their diverse student populations. These campuses are often landlocked and...

Designing Informal Learning Environments with 826 National
BLOG

Designing Informal Learning Environments with 826 National

Today, educating the next generation isn’t just happening within schools, but in informal learning environments as well. 826 National, a...

Client Interview: Matt Wunder, Da Vinci Schools
DIALOGUE ARTICLE

Client Interview: Matt Wunder, Da Vinci Schools

An interview with Matt Wunder, of Da Vinci Schools, to learn how these public charter schools are implementing project-based education and providing...

Project Spotlight: Redesigning Today's Schools for Tomorrow's Learners
DIALOGUE ARTICLE

Project Spotlight: Redesigning Today's Schools for Tomorrow's Learners

Uniting three independent charter schools under one roof, Wiseburn USD and Da Vinci Schools in Southern California are a model for next-gen learning...

Academic Incubators Are Seeding a New Wave of Innovation
DIALOGUE ARTICLE

Academic Incubators Are Seeding a New Wave of Innovation

Academic incubators are becoming engines for new economies, knowledge networks, and R&D.

A Place for Whimsy, Wonder & Imagination
DIALOGUE ARTICLE

A Place for Whimsy, Wonder & Imagination

An education nonprofit is employing design and creative thinking to give underserved youth a place to explore their creativity and improve their...

Taking Down the Walls
DIALOGUE ARTICLE

Taking Down the Walls

How new models are helping universities and research labs prepare for futures they can’t even predict.

A Restroom for Everyone
BLOG

A Restroom for Everyone

We documented the historical, political, legislative, and cultural impacts of designing gender-inclusive restrooms; and to identify best practices...

Learning Spaces: A Toolkit
RESEARCH

Learning Spaces: A Toolkit

Can we quantify the impact of active learning environments on student outcomes?

Learning Ecologies: Can the City Be Our Classroom
PUBLICATION

Learning Ecologies: Can the City Be Our Classroom

Major ideas and questions that emerged from a series of three roundtable discussions focusing on experiential learning and hosted in Gensler’s San...

A High-Performance Place for Learning
RESEARCH

A High-Performance Place for Learning

Exploring the future of education via new takes on the learning environment.

Learning That Sticks
DIALOGUE ARTICLE

Learning That Sticks

Dwight-Englewood School’s Hajjar STEM Center models where K-12 is headed.

Graphic Learners
RESEARCH

Graphic Learners

An investigation of integrating graphic design into school environments to enrich educational opportunities.

Libraries are for Studying
RESEARCH

Libraries are for Studying

How do students envision the present and future academic library? Students value the academic library as a bastion of quiet and a prime place to...

Education Gets Its Game On
DIALOGUE ARTICLE

Education Gets Its Game On

From middle schools to universities, the push is on to speed up learning and spark people’s creativity. Tech figures heavily in this, but place is...

A Student View of Academic Libraries
DIALOGUE ARTICLE

A Student View of Academic Libraries

While much of their content is web accessible, libraries endure on the campus. New Gensler research looks at their current and future use.

Role of Learning Spaces: A Comparative Analysis
RESEARCH

Role of Learning Spaces: A Comparative Analysis

We partnered with seven universities to track students transitioning from classrooms to enhanced learning spaces.