Learning Resources

Supporting Neurodiversity in Higher Education

When Every Space Counts

By: Kathleen Kelly, MBA, AIA, LEED A+P

By integrating several unique campus voices, we can realize that unassignable space is highly valuable to the neurodivergent campus occupant.

From Volume 51 Number 4 | July–September 2023

Abstract: While universities have long been bastions of intellectual diversity, they are now embracing a broader understanding of diversity that extends beyond race, gender, and socioeconomic background. Neurodiversity, a concept celebrating the natural variations in human neurological functioning, is gaining prominence as an essential aspect of fostering a truly inclusive educational environment.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Cincinnati-Main Campus, University of Southern Denmark, Syracuse University, University of California-Berkeley, University of Washington-Seattle Campus, University of Toronto-Downtown Toronto (St. George), Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Accessibility, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Health and Wellness, Informal Learning Environments, Space Assessment

Member Price:
Free | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Conference Recordings

Published
July 12, 2021

2021 Annual Conference | July 2021

Campus Tour | University of Toronto

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship

By: Robert (Bob) Davies, Montgomery Sisam Architects

This tour will lead attendees through the eight-story building that features a 500-seat lecture theatre, state-of-the-art collaborative classrooms, workshops, lab spaces, and fabrication facilities as well as several large multidisciplinary research centers and institutes.

Abstract: The Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, located in the heart of University of Toronto’s St. George campus, heralds a new era in engineering education with dynamic, flexible environments that bring students, faculty, researchers, alumni, and industry partners together to foster collaboration, encourage active learning, and accelerate innovation. This tour will lead attendees through the eight-story building that features a 500-seat lecture theatre, state-of-the-art collaborative classrooms, workshops, lab spaces, and fabrication facilities as well as several large multidisciplinary research centers and institutes.

Occupying the last unbuilt site on the campus’s main thoroughfare, we will discuss how the Myhal Centre has been designed to have a positive, transformative impact on both the streetscape and the campus at large.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Toronto-Downtown Toronto (St. George)
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Flexible Learning Spaces, Learning Environments, Science / Engineering Facility, SCUP 2021 Annual Conference

Member Price:
Free

Non-Member Price:
Free

From Lagging to Leading

Bentley University and Boston College Sack Stereotypes About Athletic Facility Sustainability and Energy Performance

By: Amanda King, Mary Nardone, and Jan Taylor

An integrated team of cross-discipline collaborators accomplished their objective of creatively reimagining athletic facilities at two institutions for the greater good of each campus and its community. Using sustainable and cost-efficient design opportunities and aligned technologies, they succeeded in countering the outdated stereotype of the athletic building as a lagging energy performer.

From Volume 48 Number 4 | July–September 2020

Abstract: Athletic buildings suffer from a long-held image problem. Fieldhouses, hockey and basketball arenas, and other large indoor competition and practice facilities traditionally lag other campus spaces in energy performance and sustainability. However, because of the size, scale, and location of athletic buildings, there is significant untapped potential as campus planners seek creative ways to implement change initiatives. The authors share lessons learned from their recent experiences applying imaginative, cost-efficient approaches to sports and recreation buildings. In addition to reimagining how the facilities can contribute to the greater good of the entire campus, they demonstrate the value of early cross-discipline collaboration and problem-solving to fulfill shared aspirations.