It’s likely that every college in America has a neurodiverse community, but not many colleges have spaces where students who think differently can thrive. At least, they don’t have spaces that are intentionally designed to accommodate such students.
I know, because I designed one and discovered that the literature on this kind of learning space was scant.
When my architecture firm was asked to submit a proposal for a suite of projects at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., including a new classroom in the old library building, the brief was clear: The Young Classroom, as it came to be known, was intended to be a space that would work for neurodivergent students, as well as their more neurotypical peers. The aim was an equitable learning experience for all students, and design was identified as a vital element in achieving that aim.
We had long worked on inclusive design, but our projects mostly involved enhancing accessibility for individuals with physical disabilities. Those projects required an empathetic view of the people who would occupy and utilize the spaces we built. Over dozens and dozens of projects, we had developed an understanding of the needs of different populations and become familiar with the standards and formulas that drove inclusive design. Yet we had never been asked to consider how people who think differently might benefit from an environment built with them particularly in mind.
While few architectural case studies on neuro-inclusive educational spaces exist, there has been a fair amount of discussion about neurodiversity in higher education in recent years. Such discussions, in particular those initiated by educator Jeffrey Ashley from Thomas Jefferson University, are what led staff at Smith to take a proactive approach to the issue and convene a classroom committee dedicated to creating next-generation teaching spaces that work for all learners on the campus.
We were brought into the project as co-creators with this committee. Through that partnership, we were able to contribute to the cause of equitable education. And while as yet there is no established formula for creating neuro-inclusive educational spaces, our experience with the Young Classroom offers some insights into how architects and administrators can work together to create better learning environments for everyone.
Making Space for the Neurodivergent
The focus on neurodiverse students makes sense. One recent study indicated that 15 to 20 percent of the population lives with autism, ADHD, dyslexia or other conditions related to how the brain works. In recent years, an emergent neurodiversity movement has influenced many people to re-examine those conditions and to see the benefits that can come with thinking differently.
The workplace has responded, partially out of necessity. Following the onset of the pandemic and the rise of remote work, employers were forced to reconsider their work environments and to focus on the needs of all kinds of workers. Office overhauls intended to attract employees back to a common workplace have included many considerations for neurodivergent workers.
We had a few examples of this work to draw on during the research phase of our design process for the Smith classroom. But even three years ago, little information was available, and very little had actually been built. We scoured architectural journals and filled in the gaps with medical journals, white papers and websites from advocacy groups. In this cobbling together, we came to what felt like a consensus on the areas we should focus on.
We emerged with two guiding principles. First, we had learned that certain environments—in particular, those that cause sensory distraction—can more significantly impact neurodivergent users. Therefore, our design should diminish distractions by mitigating, when possible, noise, visual contrast, reflective surfaces and crowds. Second, we understood that we needed a design that gave neurodivergent users the agency of choice.
The importance of those two factors—a dearth of distraction and an abundance of choice—was bolstered in early workshops with the classroom committee and other stakeholders, which occurred at the same time we were conducting our research. Some things didn’t come up in our research but were made quite clear in our conversations with faculty members, students from the neurodivergent community and other stakeholders. That feedback greatly influenced the design of the Young Classroom.
Inclusive Planning Leads to Truly Inclusive Design
Furniture is a big deal. Consider the modern classroom or conference room. Such rooms are invariably appointed with mobile tables and chairs that can be maneuvered into innumerable configurations. Drawing on the guiding principles of choice, you might expect this kind of variability to be beneficial to neurodivergent students.
Yet many neurodivergent students we spoke with said that walking into a room that is set up differently than they expected could be jarring and upsetting. While choice is important, they said, predictability is also essential.
That required a balancing act that led us to a novel yet understated design concept: fixed variability. Essentially, we needed to design a space that allowed students a variety of ways to be in the space and interact with the class but that would also be constant in its variation. That could mean different kinds of furniture and articulated spaces, all anchored in place.
With that in mind, we developed and presented two concepts for the classroom. One concept was more traditional, with rows of desks in the large central community room and then less traditional seating along the periphery with some isolated cubbies. The second was more eclectic. Choice was everywhere. You could stand or lean back on a couch. Desks were optional. By any traditional accounts, it was a radical departure from a furniture set.
That is where another important constituency came into play: the faculty. It is important to remember, after all, that a classroom that’s not conducive to instruction isn’t much of a classroom. Professors have a pedagogy, and the space needs to, if not lend itself to that pedagogy, at least not detract too much from it. The message was clear: The radical approach, while perhaps ideal for neurodivergent students, would not fly.
As we’ve learned through inclusive design, classrooms must accommodate a range of needs rather than being ideal for either the average or the extremes. We ended up blending the two concepts. The main academic space utilizes traditional tables and chairs, albeit in a variety of heights and sizes, while the peripheral classroom spaces use an array of less traditional seating and table configurations, similar to the radical approach.
A Classroom That Continues to Teach
The final design of the Young Classroom considers faculty feedback while addressing all the factors important to segments of the neurodivergent population. For students, it mitigates distractions, promotes choice and balances predictability with flexibility. It has low-stimulation quiet environments for focus; an absence of highly reflective, bright finishes and intense patterns; distinct areas for communal and individualized learning (all connected through audiovisual technology); and occupant control of lighting levels. For faculty members, it provides a technology-rich environment to support active-learning pedagogies; a simple, consistent table configuration; and flexible opportunities to organize group work.
Now the classroom, which opened in time for the fall 2023 semester, is being put to the test—and it appears to be having an impact. One faculty member said they appreciated the ability to “use one of the nooks to touch base with students more privately during class time.” Another lauded the audiovisual flexibility that allows “students to project their work on one screen, while lecture slides or a Zoom meeting can occur simultaneously on the other.”
Students have said they like the room’s sound amplification, flexible seat backs and the breakout and lounge spaces outside the main classroom space, especially for project work after class.
It bears repeating: There is no formula for this kind of educational space. The Young Classroom is a prototype in a lot of ways. More work must be done to understand what environments allow those of us who think differently to thrive alongside neurotypical learners.
We will be returning to Smith College to track more long-term impacts. We want to see other ways that the space is shaping the faculty’s pedagogical approaches and whether students are benefiting from improved outcomes. And we will, of course, be talking to the classroom committee and all the stakeholders, especially the students. We will be listening and learning.