As we enter into September, most of our schools, both K-12 and Higher Education, are beginning their 2020-2021 school years. Of course, this year we’ve seen many changes with the COVID19 protocols in place. Some schools are completely on-line, some are focusing on hybrid learning, and others have welcomed students and staff back onto school campuses with numerous safety measures in place.
This month we’re focusing on products that are making their marks in the education industry with a focus on well-being, spacial distancing, and enhanced sanitation which will allow us to return to public spaces with our health and safety at the forefront.
FURNITURE
Discover The Pod: The Agati POD is a revolutionary design for single users in Libraries craving quiet and focus. The key to The POD’s effectiveness is it’s curved shape, upholstered panels and the unique position of the user. The POD rotates the user 90 degrees, placing the user inside the carrel and creating a feeling of haven and focus.
Its curved walls give the Pod study carrels’ users their own sanctuary to study, take a phone call, or just generally find a quiet spot to work while preparing for your next presentation. These attributes put the university students’ worries at bay, creating a greater ability to focus within a larger space. Pod does all of this without building rooms.
University and Public Libraries patrons love the POD because it simply works better than traditional study carrel designs while also creating a stunning aesthetic in your Library.
More than a chair, Ethos doubles as an active learning platform for twenty-first century students. Built with an agile quad base and a classic seat shell, Ethos blends flexibility (like 360-degree swiveling capability and an ambidextrous tablet arm) with mobility and personal storage. Haskell’s seating design anticipates the needs of today’s vibrant classroom—a classroom that transitions seamlessly from lectures to discussions and interactive groups.
- Bleach cleanable
- Backpack storage keeps personal items close and off floor
- Ambidextrous worksurface supports right and left-handed students
- Worksurface supports a Chrome book and full pad of paper
- All poly shell with rounded edges easy to clean
The makerspace movement is becoming a powerful part of many school district curriculums. Schools are repurposing classrooms, renovating computer labs, and retooling media centers to accommodate the tools required for these creative spaces. But for schools who do not have the extra space to give up, Haskell has created the Rover Table. Engineered to be easily transported across the hall or across the district, the Rover table is the ideal solution for a shared maker curriculum.
Whether your school has a dedicated makerspace or not, mobile makerspaces are an excellent solution for ensuring your maker activities are available when and where they are needed. With an open frame design that accommodates 6 stacking stools, integrated power, and a top that easily lifts and retracts to fit through a standard 30” doorway.
Learning is active, engaging and always moving forward – and its solutions should be, too. From local, public schools to major universities (such as Duke, Yale, Stanford and more), SitOnIt’s durable designs can keep up with the pace of change and avoid spaces that are old school. It all starts by providing the next generation of students with a new generation of smarter, safer products.
The Qwiz Chair: The flip-up seat and interlocking system of this chair allows high-density nesting. With a bleach-cleanable mesh back and three shell and frame colors, Qwiz is a fun and flexible option for study sessions.
The VestaTM chair collection provides a unique blend of ultra-safe design with beautiful curved surfaces and colors. The sweeping form fully contacts the floor to mitigate ligature points and can be ballasted for extra security. The rotationally-molded polyethylene is easy to sanitize and provides superior durability.
Vesta’s attractive residential appearance is an appropriate complement to any interior environment. VestaTM is available in several colors and hundreds of upholstery options. Cushioning is double stitched and attached with hidden staples and secure hardware to assist in keeping products safe and tamper-resistant.
Duet™ stacking tables are easy to configure, quick to stack and simple to store. Duet turns any space into an effective learning environment that can quickly transition from classroom lectures to collaborative discussions. Duet tables fit and function perfectly with our popular Duet stacking chairs.
Duet is a high-density stacking chair that is easy to connect, quick to stack and simple to store.
- Frame is made from durable solid steel rod available in chrome only.
- Polypropylene seat and backs with fiberglass reinforced nylon arms are available in a variety of colors. Arms will automatically match the shell color selected.
- Upholstered seat models are equipped with a smooth black shroud on the under side of the seat.
- A patented ganging feature allows chairs to be effortlessly locked together in neat tidy rows.
Fabrics
Quantum Collection, featuring Gravity, Relativity, Static, Matter, Molecule and Vector. Patterns Gravity, Relativity and Static are innovative performance constructions called “fused hybrids” in which a woven textile is chemically bonded with durable TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) using a new technology called Tekloom.
Patterns Matter, Molecule and Vector are polycarbonate-based, polyurethane-coated fabrics with distinctive emboss and print features. An ultrasonic embossed technique (Molecule) and the use of a layered polyurethane (Vector) make these fabrics technically and aesthetically unique. All fabrics from the Quantum Collection are Graffiti-free, bleach cleanable, and impermeable to liquids. Additionally, they contain no DMF, phthalates, FR/Antimicrobial additives, or perfluorinated chemicals.
Flooring
Shaw Contract has created their Return-to-Schoolbook. The Return-to-Schoolbook presents a range of design considerations that support the transition for the upcoming school year based on various scenarios of time, budgets, and aesthetic preferences.
One example from Shaw’s Return-to-Schoolbook: Keep your distance
Encourages students to keep space between themselves and their peers through non-intrusive coloring on the floor. While physical distancing is a concern, color blocks can encourage students to keep apart. When physical distancing is no longer a concern, the flooring will simply have dynamic and colorful visuals, creating a lively environment.
Another example: Keep it movin’
Encourages students to keep space between themselves and their peers through non-intrusive coloring on the floor.
FLEXspace (Flexible Learning Environment eXchange) was conceived on the notion that a space on one campus may be exactly what another campus needs to create. As the learning landscape has shifted to adapt more active learning spaces, and to explore the entire campus as a learning landscape, FLEXspace has enabled educators and learning space planners to offer students a virtual field trip; the chance to share ideas and experience other learning spaces with a limited travel budget may hinder.
FLEXspace is the only open resource (no fee for academic members) that brings together practitioners, experts and decision makers in higher education, K-12, libraries, and museums who are focused on campus planning and facilities, learning technology, A/V systems integration, instructional design, teaching, and research.
Shaw Contract is proud to sponsor the FLEXspace community, made up of educators and campus planners, to support the access to information, imagery, and human connection that will lay the foundation for dynamic learning environments now and well into the future.
To create an account and explore the robust image database, visit FLEXspace.org.
