At CCO Architects, we design learning environments that span from daycare centers and primary schools to vocational institutes, universities, and advanced research facilities. We’re passionate about these spaces because educational buildings nurture the next generation and serve as the foundation for future knowledge and innovation.

Learning Environments Shape the Future

We share a responsibility to create environments where future citizens feel challenged, included, and empowered. They should be able to care for themselves and others while navigating a world that values adaptability, curiosity, and initiative. Like the users of our buildings, we ask questions to find the best solutions for each unique learning environment.

Our educational buildings extend beyond their pedagogical role, enriching the surrounding community and becoming focal points both during and after school hours.

We involve users and clients throughout the design process because they are the experts in their daily lives and organizations.

Five Framing Concepts for Learning Environments

As part of our approach to educational architecture, we work with five essential concepts that describe good learning environments. These concepts serve as guidelines for the behavior that our learning environments should strengthen. We work towards supporting users in acquiring these qualities through sensory qualities in our architecture, creating connections between physical spaces, human actions, and culture.

Robust
We design durable, adaptable learning environments that stand the test of time. Each space balances simplicity and flexibility, supporting creativity without unnecessary complexity, and accommodates changing users, habits, and functions.

Connected
Learning begins with forming new neural connections, sparked by seeing and doing. We design learning environments with clear visibility and fluid circulation, fostering discovery, interaction, and knowledge sharing across all spaces.

Curious
Exploring the environment stimulates creativity, curiosity, and empathy. Hands-on, sensory-rich spaces encourage experimentation, allowing students to learn with both the head and hands at every scale.

Spacious
Spatial variation shapes experiential learning environments, from large active areas to small quiet zones for reflection. Inclusive and diverse, these spaces support well-being, innovation, and adaptable citizens, guided by universal design principles that ensure clarity, accessibility, and equality.

Honest
Good architecture engages all the senses and communicates its structure clearly. Materials and elements have purpose; light, sound, and air are highlighted, and the building is immediately understandable, enabling users to navigate, interact with, and learn from the space intuitively.

More Knowledge about Learning Environments

In addition to working with learning environments through our architectural projects, we also offer redesign and rethinking of learning spaces that support pedagogical principles in everything from daycare centers to primary schools, vocational schools, universities, and advanced research buildings. We call this concept “Space Guidance.”