Reimagining how entire school buildings can look and function is no easy feat. But by engaging teachers, staff and students, Portage Public Schools did just that. 

Isolated classrooms are swapped out for shared learning studios. Teachers work collaboratively with their colleagues rather than in individual classrooms in what they are calling community-based learning. It’s a completely new way to imagine how learning can happen–it’s the future of elementary education. 

Part of that reimagining was changing the way that furniture functions inside a learning environment. 

The new approach to school furniture meant reconfigurable spaces, student choice, and collaboration-focused layouts. Choices for seating included options from wobbly stools to floor cushions. Students were given the opportunity to move while learning, a major change in approach that school leaders said was best for students. 

Real-World Users 

Months ahead of the school’s grand opening, we helped district leaders pilot new seating options and furniture types in existing classrooms to gain feedback from students and staff. 

The pilot gave teachers and students the opportunity to see and feel how the furniture could be used in their future school and inform our recommendations throughout the design process. 

The pilot included both fixed and active student seating options, single student desks, group tables and mobile storage. We gathered feedback using a variety of methods including onsite observation, surveys, and student-focused exercises. We asked what works? What doesn’t work? Why not?  

What We Heard

After the pilot, we heard from students on which seating options were their favorites and how they used the furniture throughout their day. In some cases, the feedback from the teachers and students was different than what we expected going into this pilot. That feedback helped guide the design process.

Some students preferred the floor cushions or wobbly stools, while others did best while sitting in a fixed chair or standing at a taller desk. This type of feedback directly impacted our recommendations on what furniture to include in the new schools.