As we are acutely aware, now more than ever, schools are hot beds for illness—especially elementary and middle schools, where kids are still learning proper hygiene and how to avoid getting sick. The health of kids’ environment at school directly impacts the health of their families and society at large. As architects, engineers, and interior […]
Physical design features are only one piece of enhancing school safety and security that we—as designers—can directly play a part in. School Corporations regularly tell us student and staff safety are their top priority when taking on a new project, as it is ours as well. School safety includes crime prevention as well as traffic […]
Interactive learning is one of the best ways for teachers and educators to make sure their students are actually grasping the knowledge and skills they are sharing. An effort to combat Mark Twain’s famous sentiment of higher education being “a place where a professor’s lecture notes go straight to the students’ lecture notes without passing […]
The Erskine Green Training Institute and Courtyard by Marriott – Muncie developed under the dream of The Arc of Indiana with the helpful insights from Self-Advocates of Indiana. This hotel and training institute is now a place where individuals with disabilities can gain post secondary education in an immersive learning environment. The students stay in the hotel for the […]
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is the framework, backed by research, that guides the development of learning environments to accommodate individual learning differences. Universal Design for Learning recognizes the different needs that are unique to those with visual, hearing, motor, or learning/cognitive disabilities while also designing for able-bodied users as well. UDL provides us, as […]
As part of developing good relationships, personally or professionally, you need to learn about the person. What do they like or dislike? What is their communication style? Do they want coffee, donuts, or both in an early morning meeting? Getting to know a client on a personal level and professional level is something we enjoy […]
At Schmidt Associates, we’ve been sensitive to the design needs of those with disabilities for a long time. For one of our more recent projects, The Erskine Green Training Institute and Courtyard Muncie, we met with Self-Advocates from The Arc of Indiana before jumping into the planning and design process. Several Advocates use wheelchairs and […]