According to Reggio Amelia principles, the school environment is one of the fundamental drivers of the education experience. Central to the design brief, which Lippmann Partnership wrote for the MLC School, was an environment where children staff and parents could engage with their surroundings and be stimulated by it.
With that in mind, all aspects of the interior were designed to provide a “sensory rich” experience. The large and flexible learning “studios” face north, the smaller service spaces are to the south with the circulation spine or “street” running in between. The learning studios are designed to encourage rearrangement of desks and chairs for differing formats and arrangements. Children are encouraged to arrange space to suit their own requirements.
There are very few walls to define activities. Instead, acoustically treated operable walls made of glass and fabric permit multiple formats and sizes of teaching space. As children learn in more intimate groups or teams, specifically designed “group learning” spaces were provided.
A variety of bright colours, textures and surfaces were introduced to create a dynamic and stimulating environment where learning can be encouraged by teachers and enjoyed by children.