By��Sarah Eynon

The modern classroom is no longer defined by��the typical��four walls and a chalkboard. Today’s students learn across physical and digital environments simultaneously, and the spaces designed to support them must evolve accordingly. As schools continue to balance in-person and remote learning, equity has become the central design challenge��ensuring every student, regardless of where or how they learn, has access to the same quality of��accessibility,��technology, and experience.��

Energy Efficiency & Addressing Aging Infrastructure��

At the foundation of classroom equity is energy efficiency and infrastructure modernization. Many school buildings across the country, particularly in urban centers like Washington, D.C., date back to the early 1900s. These facilities were never designed to support today’s electrical demands, digital tools, or climate requirements. In some cases, classrooms still rely on open windows for ventilation��or��operate��using��a limited number of electrical outlets, constraints that directly affect learning outcomes.��

Energy-efficient upgrades are essential not only for sustainability, but also for reliability and comfort. Net-zero energy��buildings, (those that��produce as much energy as they��consume),��are becoming a benchmark for new construction. Achieving this requires comprehensive HVAC upgrades, proper ductwork, and building systems that support consistent indoor air quality. In D.C., new buildings must meet strict energy efficiency standards, reinforcing the need for solutions that are both compliant and adaptable over time.��

Technology Integration & Space Adaptability��

Addressing aging infrastructure often requires a range of strategic approaches.��Some projects involve removing interior walls to create flexible, open learning environments, in an effort to��preserve��historic exteriors.��Others require full replacements of outdated��electrical��and HVAC systems to meet modern educational demands. For buildings constructed in the 1960s through the 1980s, demolition and rebuilding may be the most practical option when renovation is no longer��feasible��when comparing cost benefits.��

Technology integration is another critical��component��of��equitable��classroom design. Today’s classrooms are expected to support smart boards, projectors, speaker-tracking cameras, and robust Wi-Fi infrastructure as standard tools, not��just as��enhancements. These technologies enable hybrid learning models that allow remote students to��participate��meaningfully alongside those in the room��and provide the accessibility needed.��

Technology alone, however, is not enough. Staff training is essential to ensure tools are used effectively and consistently. Recorded training sessions, user manuals, and accessible resources��allow educators to learn at their own pace and revisit materials as needed. Environmental controls also play a key role. Dimmable lighting��and quiet HVAC systems reduce distractions and give students greater control over their surroundings.��Sound equity is particularly important��as��students should never have to ask a teacher to speak louder due to poor acoustics.��Similarly, having an adaptable sound or lighting environment is conducive for those that have visual or learning sensitivities.����

Beyond technology, classrooms must be��malleable��for the��range��educational learning platforms.��A single space may host lectures, arts programming, or STEM activities throughout the day. Portable furniture and modular layouts allow rooms to transform quickly, while dedicated maker spaces and outdoor learning environments support experiential learning and student engagement.��

Funding & Policy Considerations��

Funding and policy considerations add another layer of complexity, especially in Washington, D.C. Unlike municipalities that rely on bonds, D.C. school funding is partially provided by the federal government in two-year increments, requiring careful phasing and long-term planning. Projects must also pass through multiple regulatory bodies, including the Historic Preservation Board and the Commission of Fine Arts. Even demolition and new construction often require historic evaluations that affect schedules and budgets.��

As a result, budget planning is a critical success factor.��Inadaquate��cost forecasting can derail even the most well-intentioned projects.��It is advisable to have��a full-time cost consultant��to help��schools align funding cycles with realistic construction timelines and long-term operational goals.��

Equity, Community, and Stakeholder Engagement��

Equity also extends beyond students to the broader community. Schools increasingly serve as community hubs, hosting afterschool programs, arts events, and civic gatherings. Designing spaces that are welcoming, flexible, and accessible ensures facilities support both educational and community needs. Inclusive classrooms prioritize accessibility and participation, allowing remote learners to engage fully rather than��observe��passively.��

Stakeholder collaboration is essential in achieving these outcomes. Educational projects involve administrators, teachers, students, parents, engineers, designers, and preservationists, each with distinct priorities. Transparent communication and clear expectation-setting help manage feedback and build consensus, particularly when translating complex construction concepts for non-technical audiences.��

Challenges & Looking Ahead��

Looking ahead, schools are increasingly open to emerging technologies, including AI-driven tools, with minimal resistance. The focus is on balancing technological fluency with the development of��critical thinking skills.��Ultimately, classroom��modernization is not about technology for its own��sake,��it is about creating environments that are engaging, inclusive, and future-ready, where every student has an equal opportunity to learn,��participate, and succeed.��

Sarah Eynon is Senior Director with MGAC.

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By��Eric Benson��

Commercial buildings are entering a new era��in which��safety systems��can’t��afford to��operate��separately. Security,��fire��and��life safety, and building automation are��increasingly��merging into one connected ecosystem. Owners want fewer platforms to��manage,��faster response times, and clearer proof of compliance��—��especially in schools,��healthcare��and multi-site enterprises.��What’s��new is how quickly AI is accelerating integration, and how much smarter building safety is about to get.��

Watch for these trends that are already��shaping what smart, secure buildings will look like in 2026.��

One Integrated Safety Platform Becomes the Standard��

Buildings used to run video, access control, intrusion��detection��and fire alarms on separate systems. That model is disappearing.��By 2026, owners will expect a unified platform;��a single dashboard where all safety data lives together and can connect to��Building Automation System and Internet of Things (BAS/IoT)��networks when needed.����

Why��does it matter?��Faster decisions��can be made��because operators see everything in one place, and consistent standards��can be enforced and applied��across multiple sites. This approach also requires less training and��creates��fewer “blind��spots” between systems��

In��education��facilities, this is already��happening��at��scale. Benson Systems recently delivered a five-year rollout of Avigilon cameras across 40 Gilbert Public Schools campuses��in Gilbert, Ariz. One consistent system means the district can apply the same workflow everywhere, instead of treating each school like a separate project.��

AI “At the Edge” Becomes the Practical Win��

By 2026, the most valuable AI��won’t��live in the��cloud; it will live on the devices themselves. On-camera analytics and controller-level machines will spot unusual activity in real time, cut down false alarms, and automatically label��events��so teams know what matters first.��

This will��show up��fastest in��K-12��schools��through detecting entry violations, restricted-area��movement��or unusual crowding. It will also become prevalent in healthcare��with the monitoring��of��sensitive zones and reducing alarm fatigue. In��logistics��and industrial��sites, it will help in��quickly��identifying��perimeter issues or unsafe��patterns.��

The key to doing it right��by��pairing��edge AI with privacy-by-design, clear data-retention rules and transparent��policies��so customers stay compliant while getting the safety benefits.��

Zero-Trust Identity Reaches the Front Door��

Zero-trust��isn’t��staying in cybersecurity.��It’s��showing up at��doors. Expect mobile credentials, multi-factor authentication for sensitive spaces, and automated provisioning ties to HR or identity systems to become the standard for new builds or major retrofits.��

The reason is simple: physical access is part of overall risk management now. When a badge is lost, a��contractor’s��assignment ends, or a staff member changes��roles,��access needs to update automatically, without manual reprogramming.��

We’ve��already seen clients gravitate to unified workflows that cover visitors,��employees��and vendors in one system. At��NextCare��Urgent Care, for example, video analytics and access control are being installed together and fully��integrated,��so staff gain both security and operational simplicity across multiple doors and clinical zones.��

Compliance Goes Digital��—��and Remote Service Grows��

Compliance is moving from clipboards to dashboards.��National��Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Code Council (ICC)��testing will increasingly use sensor-verified inspections, digital certificates and remote diagnostics tied to central monitoring.��

For��building��owners, the upside is huge: cleaner audit trails, faster proof of compliance, and fewer emergency calls. For integrators, it means higher uptime expectations and more proactive maintenance contracts.��

At Rio Rico High School��in Arizona’s Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District, Benson Systems��upgraded the��school’s��legacy fire alarms to a modern Gamewell voice-evacuation system; exactly��the kind of platform designed for digital testing and clean reporting. By 2026, closeout��won’t��be a binder;��it��will��be living compliance data.��

Global Security Operations Centers��and Safety Data Ops Mature

Enterprises are centralizing safety operations into Global Security Operations Centers (GSOCs). These��aren’t��just video walls;��they’re��playbook-driven environments that coordinate alarms, video verification, access��events��and service tickets in one operational chain.��

The next evolution is measurement. Owners want��key performance indicators that prove risk reduction: response times, false-alarm trends, incident��frequencies��and maintenance performance. When convergence and AI are in place, those metrics become easier to collect and more trustworthy, turning safety from a cost center into a measurable operational advantage.��

Read more in the Technology issue of �鶹������.

Eric Benson is the CEO of��security��and fire protection��solutions��company��Benson Systems. Learn more at��www.benson-inc.com.��

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WEST HAVEN, Conn. — The University of New Haven recently celebrated a milestone in the construction of its new Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation.

The state-of-the-art facility, scheduled to open in early 2020, will house engineering and science labs, technologically advanced collaborative classrooms, video production studios, an atrium/café, and space for multidisciplinary student and faculty collaboration.

A topping-off ceremony recently marked the hoisting of the final beam for the Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation, signifying the near-completion of the world-class facility that will enable students to take their pioneering work to an even higher level.

“By creating this space, we are strengthening our commitment to educating the world’s next generation of problem solvers and preparing them to excel in the careers of the future,” said University of New Haven President Steve Kaplan. “Ultimately, we have no greater charge than this.”

The 40,000-square-foot facility is the centerpiece of the university’s Charger Challenge: the campaign for the University of New Haven, which endeavors to raise $100 million before 2020 to invest in student scholarships and the university’s culture of innovation.

The center is being named in honor of longtime university benefactors Samuel S. Bergami Jr. ’85 EMBA and Lois Bergami who ceremoniously signed the final beam that was hoisted and secured into place – topped with a tree for good luck.

“Founded nearly 100 years ago to meet the engineering and business needs of the region, the university now offers innovative and cutting-edge programs – such as cybersecurity, national security, data science, and biomedical engineering – that prepare our students for the careers of the future,” said Kaplan.

The facility is being built adjacent to Buckman Hall which houses the Tagliatela College of Engineering. It will serve as a primary point of contact for students from across the university interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. The building will be designed to help draw together resources from across the campus and to serve as a common space for students to develop and test ideas alongside their peers with mentorship from faculty, alumni, and corporate partners.

A central focus of the facility’s makerspace is providing tools and resources that enable students from across the university to work with industry partners to create prototypes of new ideas and innovative products.

More than one-third of building is “open space” that will foster idea exchange and teamwork. Instead of traditional faculty offices, it will feature co-working space to foster collaboration.

Designed by Svigals + Partners, this interdisciplinary building will serve as a central hub of activity between all of the University’s departments. At the heart of the Innovation Center is an atrium where students and administrators can gather together and collaborate.

“This building’s state-of-the-art science learning spaces, its technologically advanced ‘smart’ classrooms, and all of its additional pioneering features will provide an exceptional environment for our students to learn, create, and collaborate with each other,” said Kaplan. “Most importantly, it will provide even more opportunities for our students to develop the same forward-thinking mindset that Sam has demonstrated throughout his distinguished career. I am most grateful for Sam and Lois’s support, which is making this important initiative a reality.”

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The new tech center is part of GCCISD’s $267 million bond program that passed in May 2013. Located in Baytown, Texas, GCCISD is one of the fastest growing school districts in the state. The district projects more than 4,500 new students over the next decade, according to a demographic study. In response to this growth, local voters passed the $267 million bond program. Already, the school district has grown from 21,000 students when the bond passed in 2013 to nearly 24,000 students in 2018.

The 32,400-square-foot, two-story technology center, designed by Huckabee and constructed by Durotech, is situated on an eight-acre tract next to Alamo Elementary School. It showcases 3,900 square feet of training rooms on the first floor, where teachers can learn how to integrate technology and software into their classrooms, and a 2,000-square-foot network operating center with servers on the second floor. It also houses a 1,900-square-foot technology work area, 3,500 square feet of storage space, a warehouse for receiving technology equipment and office space.

“The facility will serve as the “brain center” for the district,” said JP Grom, vice president at Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN), the firm that is serving as the program manager for the bond program. “It will allow GCCISD to store student and teacher data within the district, rather than relying on a third-party data facility. It will also serve as the district’s emergency operations center in the event of a hurricane or other emergencies.”

Other elements of the bond program include three new elementary schools, which opened in 2015, a new transportation center that was completed in 2017, and an agriculture science building that opened in 2018. The bond package also includes additions to four facilities, renovation of STEM labs in five schools and security upgrades. In addition, the bond package has enabled GCCISD to accomplish its goal of retiring $52 million in deferred maintenance.

LAN is a full-service consulting firm offering planning, engineering and program management services.

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KINGSPORT, Tenn. — Construction of Dobyns-Bennett High School’s new Regional Science and Technology Center (RSTC) is currently underway in the form of a large triangular-shaped structure that will serve as its new entrance.

The $20 million project currently sits in front of the Dobyns-Bennett High School campus and includes a new 75,000 square-foot, three-story, 400-seat facility with a mission to create a culture that inspires innovation through science and technology.

As designed, the new RSTC facility will feature a three-story atrium and include 18 science and tech labs, two teacher work spaces, six student work spaces, one TEAL (Technology Enhanced Active Learning) lab, one large research lab, four small research labs, a student café, and administrative offices.

Perkins+Will of Atlanta designed the new facility, and BurWil Construction Inc. of Bristol, Tenn., is serving as the project’s contractor.

“Because of the shape of the existing building there’s a different shape to the rooms, said Steve Trimble, project architect at Perkins+Will of Atlanta. “We have classrooms that can flip and change and be different things as needed.”

According to , the overall goals for the RSTC facility include defining the Dobyns-Bennett main entrance, improving circulation and accessibility at Dobyns-Bennett for students and staff, capitalizing on an opportunity for a new identity for the Dobyns-Bennett facility while maintaining the current design and legacy elements, and adding an enhanced science and technology program at Dobyns-Bennett with new and enhanced facilities and programming while increasing Dobyns-Bennett’s student capacity.

The new facility would also raise Dobyns-Bennett’s capacity to support 2,500 students at 85 percent utilization, according to Kingsport City Schools.

“The client really had a vision that they wanted something specific so they really pushed us to create that thing,” said Trimble. “We toured buildings just to get an idea of the design of the buildings.”

Trimble said the buildings he toured together with Kingsport City school officials included other high schools Perkins+Will had completed in the Atlanta region.

For example, Trimble said that there was a tremendous amount of glass used to create an open and transparent façade of the facility. He said school officials benefited from seeing some of the same facades in other Perkins+Will school designs.

“It was important for them to see a building that had a lot of glass and realize that students were not going to be on display like a fishbowl kind of thing,” said Trimble.

Trimble said that one interesting part of the design process for the RSTC was adding on to the existing Dobyns-Bennett hexagon-like pod structure that was built in 1967.

According to the , Dobyns-Bennett was touted as an “ultra-modern high school” with wall-to-wall carpet when it first opened in 1967. However 50 years later the design of having only one window per classroom has given way to a wall of windows that let in natural light according to the design of the new RSTC facility.

“We inverted that relationship and we’ve increased the views out into the mountains beyond so you get a really picturesque view from these classrooms that are higher than they were,” said Trimble.

Construction on the new facility began during the school’s 2017 winter break and is scheduled for completion on May 31, 2019; the facility is scheduled to open in August of 2019.

A report from the Times News contributed to this story.

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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. —��Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology recently announced that it received a $15 million lead gift from an anonymous donor to support construction of a new academic building that will provide collaboration workspaces, design studios, flexible classrooms, chemistry laboratories and faculty innovation spaces.

The anonymous donation will fund over half of the $29 million building that is set to open for the 2021-22 school year.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new building will be held during the college’s homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 6.

The building was designed by RATIO Architects, and its architecture will have a central atrium and lots of interior and exterior glass to let in light and showcase the work taking place within, making it a “window into Rose” concept that showcases curricular innovation, laboratory activities and collaboration of students, faculty and staff members.

“The design of this new academic building reflects our focus on active engagement in learning within a collaborative, mentoring environment,” said Rose-Hulman President Jim Conwell.

“We’re grateful to our lead donor for supporting our vision for science, engineering and math education, and excited about the opportunities that lie ahead as a result of this generous gift.”

Located in Terre Haute, Indiana, Rose-Hulman has an enrollment of approximately 2,200 undergraduate students and nearly 100 graduate students.

The 60,000-square-foot, three-story building will be located on the east side of campus, between Moench Hall and Myers Hall.

The first floor of the new building will host flexible and easily adaptable design spaces for student projects and design studios for the new engineering design academic program. Students and teams will be able to utilize breakout spaces throughout the floor to collaborate on projects. Students also will have access to a prototyping laboratory, laser-cutting devices, machine tools and a woodworking shop.

Six classrooms with flexible learning spaces will be featured on the second floor, along with three breakout rooms and booths for student workspaces. Innovation spaces will allow faculty to work on research projects with students.

New state-of-the-art chemistry laboratories will provide separate spaces for instruction and hands-on learning of general, organic, analytical and physical chemistry, and undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry research with faculty.

There will be dedicated space for preparing chemistry and biochemistry experiments before moving activities to a laboratory, and facilities for faculty and students to explore edible chemistry projects. An instrument laboratory and an area for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy equipment will also be included.

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Thursday’s Plenary session was given by Speaker Jaime Casap, a communication skills educator at the Phoenix Coding Academy in Arizona who spoke on the importance of computer science education. “I don’t want to start with the fact that education is broken, but ask what is the right education we need for the future that we face?” he asked the EDspaces audience. “Our job in education is to prepare kids for the future, but we also have to realize that the future is already here. A lot of that has to do with technology and computer science.”

He continued by addressing the fact that cloud computing is impacting everything we do and stated that all work will soon be automated to some degree. Because technology is able to support and enable what we do, students now more than ever need to be given the opportunity to solve problems instead of being asked to simply memorize information out of a text book.

“There is a need for a cultural shift that involves converting information into intelligence,” Casap said. “We need to be asking ourselves, ‘How do we convert that information that [students] memorize into intelligence?’”

Casap alluded to the fact that there should be fewer discussions about what the future classroom will look like because the classroom is undergoing constant iteration, changing to accommodate each new technology or learning concept. For instance, one innovative concept from the Phoenix Coding Academy is that its curriculum uses computer science in every class or subject it teaches.

Casap’s session seemed to go hand-in-hand with almost every talk at the conference. Another poignant one included a session given by Tomas Jimenez-Eliaeson, design director of learning environments for international architecture firm LITTLE. Jimenez-Eliason spoke about the idea of a transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning. “Kids are now creating their own majors and crafting their own experiences because they’re seeing problems that are not being solved by just one discipline; multiple disciplines are required,” he said.

He pointed to teaching approaches in Finland where entire curriculums are doing away with individual subjects such as physics and math, and instead teaching by topic, which could apply to several subjects at once.

Craig Park, principal for The Sextant Group, also spoke on technology and how architects can design for big data. He pointed to several projects that incorporated large-scale technologies such as the Visualization Lab used for data analytics, located at North Carolina State’s James B. Hunt Jr. Library. Multi-touch visualization and group wireless sharing were other technologies trending in the data world.

Needless to say, the idea of ever-changing technologies and designing spaces to be flexible enough to constantly shift with those changes were top of mind at the conference. Jimenez-Eliaeson referenced a favorite quote from Futurist Alvin Toffler: “The illiterate of the 21^st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

As adaptation will be key in these next generations of school design, what are you doing to adapt your education spaces?

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