Introducing the 2016 Awards Jury For 25 years, architectural design firms have submitted building design and interiors projects to Learning By Design magazine. With each edition, Learning By Design convenes with assistance from partners such as the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education and the Association for Learning Environments, a recognized jury to provide expert peer review of all projects. The jury is asked to score each project based on seven criteria: Innovation, 21st-Century Learning, Community Needs, Interiors, Sustainability, Functional Design and Judging Components. High-scoring projects are then vigorously debated within their category of use. Projects that exemplified contemporary standards and contain design attributes one might emulate in a new space design are recognized as Outstanding. Projects that exceeded the standard are awarded Citation of Excellence and Honorable Mention. Exemplary projects impactful across the field at large are given Grand Prize awards. Learning By Design recognizes the Fall 2016 jury. Their hours of service and dedication truly make this design review a legitimate tool for learning and not just a book of pretty pictures. Each juror brought strong opinions, professional experience-based insight and passion to the process and its outcome. The jury was excited to see some significant design concepts taking hold: • Incorporation of natural light in all learning spaces • Creation of collaboration spaces throughout school buildings • Creation of career and technical education (CTE) type hands-on learning spaces • Usable outdoor spaces for learning, eating and for social interaction • Use of active learning furnishings allow for flexibility in seating and reconfiguration of students into groups for collaborative work • Design or renovate spaces to be more student-centered. Spaces for students to read or relax casually, i.e., learning stairs adjacent to central stairs. • Use of porous walls, making the walls between classrooms transparent and flexible JURY OBSERVATIONS - More schools should be “Sustainability Rating Certified.” Without a goal of third-party certification, ultimate performance is typically lessened even with a good design team. We equate it to a student who says, “I almost got my diploma.” There’s a huge difference between setting and surpassing a high bar (certified high-performing school) versus half-heartedly pursuing that high bar (believing that the certificate or diploma) doesn’t really demonstrate achievement and validate achievement. - I would hope to see more connection between the collaboration spaces and the classroom spaces. They still seem to be separate for the most part, which makes them not as successful as there is always hesitancy to send students out of a room without the ability to monitor. - I like the movement towards smaller schools and/or schools within a school. The concept of distributed dining really supports this, making the dining experience in school more familiar and of a more personal scale.