By Lindsey Coulter��

HMC Architects��recently welcomed��Oliver Nicolas��to��the firm’s PreK-12 practice as��Principal-in-Charge.��

With a dual foundation in architecture and civil engineering,��Nicolas��brings more than 23 years of experience delivering impactful PreK–12, healthcare, and residential projects. He also spent��six years at a structural engineering firm and as a specification sales representative for a wood manufacturing company, giving him a comprehensive perspective on efficiently managing and delivering school construction projects.����

“My background gives me a unique perspective on design and delivery,” Nicolas said. “Understanding structural engineering and��available materials influences how I view��a space. Everything we design must be buildable, so as I design,��I’m��already thinking about how structural and architectural elements will be attached and how important detailing is in construction.”��

Based in the firm’s Ontario, Calif.,��studio, Nicolas will work closely with district clients across Southern California, ensuring strong collaboration and��a seamless��client experience. Drawing on more than two decades of experience guiding projects from design through construction administration and certification, he will provide strategic oversight to align project goals with client priorities throughout the project lifecycle.��

Nicolas spoke with ��������about��regional trends, how districts are��approach��deferred maintenance projects and��how��early collaboration can help��prevent problems later in the project lifecycle.��

SCN:��What makes working within an existing school building particularly challenging,��and where do you see the greatest opportunities for creative design?��

Nicolas:��Renovations challenge designers because existing buildings impose strict��parameters. We��must deliver��everything the client needs within��a��confined space.��I��once worked with a healthcare client to��develop��a tiny��ADA��code-compliant single-user restroom. Due to space limitations, we��couldn’t��expand��and��had to find every��opportunity��to��meet code��within the tight space.��Schools face these��same��challenges,��and��I��find that the spaces that seem the��smallest��are the��most challenging��to work��within yet��provide��amazing opportunities for success.��

SCN:��Across Southern California, what are you hearing��most��frequently��from school districts about their facility needs and priorities right now?��

Nicolas:��Our��district clients are most��concerned about��declining enrollment and how��to��repurpose��underutilized or aging spaces.��Schools don’t��want to��sell��extra��property,��finding new uses for these spaces��will be��one of the biggest challenges, and opportunities, for��school architects��in the near future.��Districts are also��exploring��ways to serve diverse community needs with workforce housing, wellness spaces, and other shared use spaces.��This��approach��raises��important questions about��after-school access,��operations��and maintenance��—��and how to open��the campus to the��wider��community��while��maintaining��student safety.����

SCN:��Many districts are balancing aging facilities and deferred maintenance with limited funding. How should districts think strategically about modernization versus new construction?��

Nicolas:��Before a district focuses on repurposing underutilized or aging spaces,��it should��start with a��comprehensive,��long-term��facilities��masterplan. The planning process should��evaluate��each school site��in its full context, considering��existing conditions,��educational adequacy, adaptability, and total cost of ownership, rather than relying solely on a building’s age.����Modernization is often a smart investment when��a��structure has good bones and can be transformed��to meet the��district’s needs. New construction should be considered��when the existing site��or building limitations prevent the district from achieving its goals.��

SCN:��What are some of the biggest misconceptions about what can��—��or cannot��—��be��accomplished��within an existing school building or site?��

Nicolas:��The��biggest misconceptions about working within an��existing��space are��that��it is��expensive or��tearing it down��is easier.��However,��I’ve��seen that working within an��existing��space��often costs less,��promotes��sustainability,��and��produces��magnificent learner-focused spaces. Architects��can��make something out of��anything. If��the district has a vision,��architects are savvy enough to��come up with��a solution.��When��we think creatively and look at a space in its full context,��we can��always��come up with��something��that achieves the client’s vision.����

SCN:��With your experience on the construction and materials side, what are some of the decisions architects and districts can make earlier in the process that have the greatest impact on cost,��constructability��and schedule?��

Nicolas:��It’s��important that architects and designers understand that cost escalation is a major��issue, and��we must��deliver the project sooner��rather��than later��to help clients save time and money.��It’s��important to find the right balance of��the program,��materials��and construction type.��For example,��I know��building��with��wood��might present��an��up-front��savings��compared to steel.��However,��with an efficient design and construction strategy, steel can��also help��reduce��timelines and��the��overall budget.��When��we��involve��every voice��—��districts,��community��and builders��—��early in��our thought process,��we can��speed up the��process��and create a visionary project on time and within budget.����

SCN:��How can architects improve collaboration among districts, contractors,��engineers��and other project partners early enough to prevent problems later in the project lifecycle?��

Nicolas:��At HMC Architects,��we engage clients��and partners in��a��multi-day��immersive design process.��During the day,��we host interactive workshops��and brainstorming sessions��with��all interest holders.��After hours,��our��design team��works on��a��preliminary��design based on��these conversations. We��reconvene with the full team��to��refine the design.��This approach��allows us to resolve��issues that often take weeks or months to settle in a week or less.��When we bring��everyone together��early,��we��see��the��best solutions to problems,��identify��previously unrecognized��opportunities, and allow��everyone to see the project develop in real��time.����

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By Lindsey Coulter

Chuck Saylors, vice president of JM Cope Construction in Rock Hill, S.C., is a long-time advocate for education and school facility development. With more than 23 years of experience as an elected school board member for Greenville, S.C., and as a former president of the National PTA, Saylors has become a key figure in the education design community. He is also a longtime proponent of ������٠partner the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE).

In anticipation of A4LE’s annual LearningSCAPES event, held this year in Phoenix Oct. 29-Nov. 1, Saylors spoke with ������Ů about his construction career, his involvement with A4LE and his decades of commitment to improving educational spaces.

SCN: What drew you to get involved in A4LE?

Saylors: I first attended some A4LE conferences in South Carolina back when it was still known as CEFPI (Council for Educational Facility Planning). Around 2006, I began getting more involved. Much like with the PTA, one thing led to another. The word “no” is just not in my vocabulary. When A4LE asked if I would help with something, I agreed. Over the years, I served at the state and regional levels, and last year, I had the honor of serving as chairman of the Global Board of Directors.

SCN: Why is A4LE such an important part of the education design community?

Saylors: To my knowledge, A4LE is the only organization that brings together public schools, the design community, and the construction industry with the common goal of providing a safe, secure, and high-quality learning environment for every student and teacher, no matter the size of their community. A4LE allows the design community to see best practices from different areas, while providing educators with knowledge about how to get the best possible projects in the most affordable way. For me, it’s all about creating environments where students can thrive.

The LearningSCAPES conference is also an amazing opportunity for professionals in education design to network and learn from each other. One of the highlights for me has always been the shared focus on making sure every student and teacher has access to a safe, secure, and high-quality learning environment.

SCN: What are you most excited about for the 2025 LearningSCAPES event?

Saylors: I’m excited to see the best practices from professionals around the globe. At LearningSCAPES, you can network with thousands of A4LE members from North America, Australia and Europe. For example, it’s incredible to see how certain design solutions that worked in the Midwest can be applied in the Southeast, or vice versa. The ability to learn from one another in such a diverse setting is priceless. And, of course, the continuing education opportunities are a major draw as well.

A big focus of the event is looking ahead, especially with the increasing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in everything we do. When I first got involved in general contracting, I would look at building plans and immediately think about the square-foot costs and taxpayer dollars. But attending events like LearningSCAPES allows you to see how design professionals have been able to balance cost with creativity, incorporating unique design elements in an affordable way. These events also give us a glimpse into the future, particularly with technology like AI, and how it’s changing the design and construction process.

SCN: Is there any particular success story or project that stands out as a testament to A4LE’s impact?

Saylors: I would say the biggest impact A4LE has made is in continuing education. The programs A4LE provides for design professionals, constructors, and school leaders give them mission-critical knowledge that directly helps with ongoing professional development. Our micro-credentialing and certification programs offer real, tangible benefits to members, helping them stay ahead in an ever-evolving industry. Beyond that, the relationships and best practices shared at these events are invaluable.

SCN: As someone who has been deeply involved in both the construction and education sectors, what advice would you give to those who want to create better learning environments?

Saylors: If your goal is to ensure every student and teacher has access to a quality learning environment, A4LE is the best place to find the resources and talent to make that happen. Whether you’re a member of the design community, an educator, or a school leader, A4LE has the knowledge and network to help you accomplish that goal. Once people get engaged, they usually say, “I should have done this sooner.” It’s an invaluable resource for anyone serious about improving education environments.

A4LE is more than just a professional association; it’s a community. The relationships and knowledge shared at these events are transformative. If you’re committed to creating environments where every student can succeed, this is the place to be.

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An Iowa State University alumni holding 20-plus years of expertise, Roth has two decades of experience in building and leading design teams, partnering with school districts, and creating learning environments with the focus of supporting students and educators. Her diverse design background allows her to blend interior architecture; furniture, fixtures and equipment; and planning to showcase the power educational environments have to instill joy, support student and staff wellbeing, and improve student outcomes.

Roth serves as the president of the A4LE Kansas City Chapter, sits on the MWGL board, and is involved in the House of Delegates. She is involved in the EDmarket Certified Learning Place Specialist program and will earn her ECLPS certification this summer.

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By Megan Marsh

As education methods and types of spaces evolve, CO Architects is continually exploring emerging trends shaping the future of interiors in higher education. Our challenge as architects and interior designers is to create university environments that foster community, places that support collaboration, encourage interactions among people with varying points of view and forge human bonds. These key trends are important design elements shaping the future of higher education.

1. Flexibility

In an era where everyone must do more with less, flexible design solutions ensure that universities utilize spaces to their full potential. Flexible spaces and furniture that adapt to the future of education are a growing trend. Clients are also increasingly requesting agile spaces that are equipped to respond to various technologies and experiential needs. Many of our projects include movable partitions that allow classrooms to expand as well as large gathering areas that can be reconfigured to host various event types and group sizes, such as lectures, graduation ceremonies and TED Talks.

Designers are now combining business, education, and leisure in blended-use spaces instead of programming them separately for work or gathering. Co-mingling increases occupancy through varying uses throughout the day. Movable, versatile furniture is a vital aspect of space flexibility. Foldable and stackable furniture with integrated storage allows for quick reconfiguration for different activities.

2. Tech-Enabled Spaces

A corollary of flexible design is integrating current technology into campuses for both new buildings and modernizations of older ones to ensure longevity and relevancy. Examples include integrating Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) to enrich students’ campus and education experiences. The evolution of higher education design to focus on technology-driven learning environments as technology-enhanced spaces like AR and VR labs help make complex concepts easier to understand.

Other features routinely included are interactive smartboards, video-conferencing tools and other collaborative software as well as podcast rooms and recording studios for professors to professionally record lectures for hybrid learning, meeting current teaching needs but also accelerating new teaching methodologies.

3. Neurodiversity

Recognizing that students learn in a wide variety of ways, universities are becoming more accommodating to a range of cognitive and sensory preferences. Designs ensure that a choice of sensory environments is provided, in order to cater to diverse learning styles and needs. This can include a variety of study, learning and meeting environments, providing dimmable lighting and a range of color palettes. Collaboration areas vary from brighter rooms with plenty of natural light, to darker rooms with soft lighting as well as a range of visual and acoustical privacy elements. A mix of furniture types adds additional choices, allowing students to choose based on how they’re feeling at any given time.

4. Community-Fostering

The overall square footage in the education sector has remained relatively stable. However, space allocation has shifted toward slightly smaller private offices for faculty and an increase in flexible, shared workspaces or hybrid work models for faculty and staff.

This decrease in private workspaces is offset by a significant increase in public and community-life spaces, such as larger common areas, student lounges, collaboration zones and wellness facilities. Spaces that prioritize social interaction, support student well-being, and enhance campus life reflect a shift toward more communal, multi-functional environments within educational buildings.

5. Local Outreach

Higher education design increasingly considers and embraces the neighboring community. Multi-modal lecture spaces are often designed to also host community events, drawing residents onto campuses. Design details regularly embrace local influences and neighborhood history. Art installations often draw inspiration from the site surroundings and sometimes showcase the work of local artisans.

Visit the to see how wellness, outdoor learning spaces and sustainability are also shaping the future of higher education.

Megan Marsh is a senior interior designer and senior associate in the Los Angeles office of CO Architects.

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By Lindsey Coulter

As design techniques and methodologies evolve with education trends and emerging research on student success, designers are challenged to develop buildings and spaces that will endure for decades, while remaining flexible enough to adapt to changing needs and approaches.

For the 2025 Architects Roundtable, ������٠welcomes experts from across the country and the K-12 to higher education spectrum to speak on recent shifts in education design, important lessons they have learned over the years and the trends they anticipate.

Lori Cowles AIA, ALEP, LEED AP

Cowles is a principal at HMFH Architects with 32 years of experience designing sustainable K-12 schools that support student well-being and accommodate a range of learning and teaching modalities. She is currently working on an all-new 409,000-square-foot high school in Arlington, Mass., that will be completed across four phases on an occupied site.

Jason Lembke AIA, NCARB

Lembke, group principal and national K-12 education design leader for DLR Group, has decades of experience in planning, programming and design. He recently completed an arts-focused elementary school, integrating a community porch component for students that also serves as an expression of community and purpose.

Robert Siegel, FAIA

Siegel established his private practice in 1991 after earning a Master of Science in Architecture from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University. He has taught architectural design and building technology at Parsons School of Design, Syracuse University and the Boston Architectural Center, among others, and is the former chair of the AIA New York Chapter Committee on the Environment. Siegel is currently in design development on the Tiffin University Residential Village project, a 450-bed hall in northern Ohio.

Peter Verne, AIA, LEED AP

Verne, senior associate and senior architectural designer at FCA, examines the benefits and complexities of retrofitting higher education facilities in response to changing pedagogy, technology and energy performance. His recent renovation work on Farmingdale State College’s Thompson Hall increased the building’s thermal performance without modifying its historic exterior and added modern HVAC and IT systems.

SCN: How has evolving research on how students learn changed the way you design education spaces?

Cowles: Studies prove that we all learn differently, and physical spaces need to support this diversity. At HMFH, we work closely with educators to create a variety of spaces within proximity to each other to enable fluid and flexible movement throughout the school day.

Lembke: How we shape space—its volume, orientation, color, visual complexity, materiality, resources and relationships to other spaces—is more clearly identifiable thanks to the availability of evolving research. That knowledge becomes foundational to our technical vernacular; however, without empathy and consideration of broader factors that are unique to every place and circumstance, we may settle for simply “better than before” at the expense of creating generational value and elevating the student experience through great design.

Siegel: Neuroscience and educational research have helped us prioritize natural light, appropriate acoustics, thermal comfort and air quality … instead of just packing buildings full of an assortment of amenities. Hagar Goldberg’s research in “Growing Brains, Nurturing Minds—Neuroscience as an Educational Tool to Support Students’ Development as Life-Long Learners” demonstrates how “formal and informal learning, which generates long-term and accessible knowledge, is mediated by neuroplasticity to create adaptive structural and functional changes in brain networks.” This understanding that experience-dependent neuroplasticity is at full force during school years presents what Goldberg calls a “tremendous educational opportunity.” We use research heavily to intentionally create environments that are “human-brain-friendly” and “ride the neuroplasticity wave” by providing varied stimuli and adaptable spaces that support a variety of learning experiences.

Verne: The increasing acceptance of active learning models has impacted higher education space programming and design. At its most basic concept, the flexibility required for active and self-directed group learning classrooms calls for a larger footprint, about 20% more per student, than traditional didactic teaching spaces. I am aware of discussions around learning styles—visual, auditory, reading/writing, kinesthetic—but I think most professors incorporate multiple methods to impart information. I can’t say it has had a spatial impact on the design of learning spaces, other than perhaps increasing the number of spaces programmed for active learning methods as inherently more flexible.

SCN: What is on the horizon for education design?

Cowles: We see a continual push for more sustainable materials and efficient systems. I may just be being hopeful, but buildings are getting more complicated to operate, even the controls for lighting (gone is the on-off switch). So, a trend toward simplification and more user-friendly operations would be great.

Lembke: I see the school of the future as a true resource center and a cornerstone of generational value to its community. Entrepreneurialism and rapidly evolving technology will allow students to realize their passion at a younger age than ever before. We see career and technical education fostering applied and authentic learning opportunities, specialized spaces that support advancing science and healthcare, and the ubiquity of technology creating interdisciplinary opportunities. The arts and self-expression through music, drama, etc., are here to stay, too. I hope that we see fewer “copies” of schools that support decreasing modalities of learning and increase our time and attention on the design process to develop purposeful and personalized solutions.

Siegel: I anticipate accelerated integration of wellness and mental health supports into the physical fabric of learning environments. This goes beyond dedicated counseling spaces to include sensory-considerate design throughout facilities, biophilic elements that reduce stress, and environments that encourage movement and connection with nature. The mental health crisis among young people demands that we rethink fundamental aspects of educational environments.

Verne: Competition among institutions for undergraduate students is more palpable than ever. To continue to thrive, universities need to sharpen their approaches to attracting students. This is not a call for more climbing walls or student life amenities (although there is a place for those as well). Rather, it requires a clear understanding of who their students are, why they choose to be there and how it aligns with the institution’s mission. Most colleges and universities already do this as part of their strategic planning. The stakes are only getting higher.

See the full interview and more insights in the .

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