What should we do with 2 West

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What should we do with 2 West?
Brian Mathews, May 2008
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Research Design

• Focus Groups
• Interviews
• Open Forum
• Observations
• Facebook Polls
• Message Boards
• Flip Chart Comments
• Drawings

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Next Steps

• Staff Input
• Feedback From Prototypes
• Furniture Trials

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• 342 Chairs
• 49 Group Tables
• 35 Individual Desks

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• Concentrating
• Boring
• Study until you pass out
• Unwritten spot of quiet
• Work environment
• Meeting space
• Group work
• Old-looking
• Reading area
• Unattractive
• Harsh lighting
• Sterile
• Tech-ish
• Like a hospital
• Lonely

• Lots of desks
• Uninviting
• Oppressive
• Open
• Clustered
• Barren
• Desolate
• Dimly-fluorescent light
• Ignored
• Bland
• Old School Study Hall
• No restrictions on talking
• Low-key
• Nostalgic

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lights, carpet, power, paint
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Chairs on Wheels
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Table Management
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Dividers, Partitions, Walls
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Flipcharts vs. Whiteboards
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IndependentWorkspace
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Nooks, Wings, Sides, Hideaways
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Social Aspects of the Study Environment(Neutralit
y Approachability Inspiration)
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Location Course Identifiers
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The library has begun the process of renovating
the second floor group study areas. Following the
successful remodeling of the first floor commons
they have decided to include extensive student
feedback in the design process. After the
renovation plans for Tech Rec were released last
fall to widespread criticism, it is admirable to
see campus planners include student input from
the inception of a redesign project, rather than
seeking it at a later time in the process. The
library is one of the most consistently used
areas of campus, and the studying that happens
there is central to a students time at Tech.
Allowing students input in the environment where
they learn is an exceptional idea that will
hopefully create positive results both in the
design and in the study habits of students who
use the space.
Technique, 2.22.08
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• Thoughts?
• Ideas?
• Concerns?
• Suggestions?
• Questions?