Designed to support an innovative curriculum
In 2019 the school moved into brand-new purpose-built premises designed to support its innovative curriculum, which included independent ‘opportunistic’ learning spaces at each corner of the square building and a light-filled double-height atrium at the main entrance. Having seen the Spaceoasis®-designed University Place at Manchester University, which uses pods and screens to create work, meeting and study spaces in a large open plan area, giving definition and purpose to what could otherwise be merely a thoroughfare, Hertswood took inspiration for its own dramatic entrance.
Robust, stylish and comfortable
Just inside the secure line of the school, the atrium needed to perform many functions, as an indoor social area, study space, café, a location for parents’ evenings, informal meetings and impromptu chats, as well as a performance and events venue. In this high-traffic area the furniture specified needed to be super-robust as well as stylish and comfortable, to match the smart and ambitious but also warm and welcoming culture of the school. Working with the Hertswood team, Spaceoasis® developed bespoke configurations of its CurvPress® pods and screens to create a series of multi-purpose spaces that flow through the atrium, delivering functionality and flair to this hard-working space.
A space that serves multiple functions
As you enter the atrium, round individual tables and chairs create a café-style space which serves as a gathering / social / eating space for up to 60 students during the school day or somewhere to host guests at an event. A D-ended, bar-height Prelude workstation provides space for one-to-one chats or working on a laptop and a Spaceoasis® pod curves around upholstered seating providing semi-enclosed space for informal meetings. CurvPress® screens create long s-shaped multi-purpose structures that provide robust standing-height workstations, additional seating for work or meetings and touchdown worksurfaces that serve as informal workstations for staff and students. It’s a space that serves multiple functions with stylish ease, making a purposeful space that is useful to the whole school community and beyond.
A learning opportunity
While Spaceoasis® designed the atrium, Learniture® was brought in to help make the most of the ‘opportunistic’ learning spaces at the corner of each wing. These rooms are kitted out with individual Smile tables from Learniture®, sister company to Spaceoasis®. Students and staff can rearrange the tables, which have writable LearningSurface® tops, to work independently or in small or large groups, enabling them to choose the best configuration for the task or lesson in hand.
