Engaging Students to Design Learning Spaces: A Five-Year Retrospective

Over the past 5 years, Ohio State interior design students have actively shaped campus spaces based on peer research and industry insights as part of their coursework.

 

The Junior Interior Design Studio (JIDS) course has given students real-world experiences designing learning spaces on the Columbus campus. The course is a partnership between Learning and Collaborative Environments, the Department of Design, and Ohio State furniture partner, MillerKnoll Brand Collective. Other industry partners and internal OSU departments also contribute as guest speakers and in final critique.

In the course, students conduct peer research to identify students’ needs and preferences, and they hear from professionals that are actively designing in all aspects of higher education environments - accessibility, furniture, pedagogy, etc. Students distill their research and learning into key insight areas that guide their design decision-making. 

Consistent key insights over the years include:

• Space for All: ensuring equity and inclusion with next-level Universal Design
• Wellness: including daylight, biophilia, visual stimuli in environments
• Together Yet Alone: considering spaces for both introverts and extroverts 
• Usability: encouraging people to spend time on campus
• Connections: using art and tech to connect disciplines and people
• Color and Identity: using color, pattern, and art to support space-specific needs
• Sustainability: promoting sustainable choices and connection to nature

The idea of actively engaging students in designing our spaces started when the Learning and Collaborative Environments team led the formation of the BTAA Student Design Challenge in fall of 2018. While pandemic brought the competition to an end, the spirit of the program lives on through the JIDS course. This work has yielded the creation of 3 student-designed collaboration spaces on Columbus campus, highlighted in this article.

This effort has expanded to include post-pandemic studies and user-focused research, shaping the final design of the new Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship.  

The program has gained industry recognition, with presentations at multiple conferences. Most recently, the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) invited us to present a summary of the student experience and key themes from the past five years at their conference in New York City in 2024.

For more information about the Junior Interior Design Studio, reach out to Stephanie Orr.145, Director of Learning and Collaborative Environments.

Special thanks to those that have partnered to fund these spaces: Integrated Physical Planning Liaison Group, Office of Academic Affairs, College of Arts & Sciences, and MillerKnoll Brand Collective.