Background and Context

 

Start and End dates

 

The project began in January 2003 and was completed in January 2006.

 

Type of Project:

 

New build within existing campus footprint.

 

Case Study tags: learning spaces, glasgow caledonian university, new build, scotland, higher education

 

SALTIRE: a building that provides Services for our students, Active approaches to Learning and Teaching, a 21st century way of managing our Information, the repository of our Research collections, and Engaging our students.

The Saltire is also the name of the Scottish flag. Also known as the St Andrew's Cross. The Saltire is pictured at the centre of the University's crest. An appropriate name for a campus hub; the social, intellectual, and cultural heart of the campus.

 

The brief developed to be about creating a building that offered a non- institutional important third place; a key place that people want to come to. With the increasing flexibility of delivery it would have a significant role in encouraging and supporting the sociality of learning, and generally add to the value of the student's experience of life as part of a University. Key to this is encouraging departments to make their work more visible by having events and exhibitions in the Saltire Centre.

 

The building design incorporates the understanding of the brief from a whole range of professionals who worked on the project: architects, interior designers, graphic designers, librarians, student support services, estates strategists, as well as those leading learning and teaching in the University during the build and design period.

The Saltire Centre builds on the success of the Learning Café which already existed in the university's previous library and information centre.

 

• The development of the Saltire Centre has been informed by a wide diversity of conversations with educationalists, architects, staff, students and designers.
• The thinking behind it is based on a body of experience and research as well as experience from the Learning Café at the University. The Learning Café at Glasgow Caledonian was an early experiment with the use of space to support project work, problem-based learning and group work. Developed in 2001, this was located on the ground floor of the old Library building. Here wired PCs and wireless hotspots integrated online communication and learning activities into the social ambience of a café. Computers were placed close to refreshments for quick access to email and other online resources over a cup of coffee. Laptops or tablet PCs could be used in groups from easy chairs or individually from high stools on benches around the café, depending on the requirements of the individual. The enormous success of the café as a learning space is verified by student evaluations.
• The students intuitively knew how to use this space from the first day that it opened and the evidence gathered from this experiment has informed the development of the Saltire Centre, underpinned by a growing acknowledgement that in a mass higher education system, peer group interaction and learning are crucial to student success.

 

It is the policy of the University to develop an ethos of partnership between students and the administration of library and learning resources. The design of the Centre and the way in which it is administered recognise the social origins of learning and the need for interaction between learners on different levels and in different forms. It is believed that a customer-service model will elicit a greater potential to learn amongst students and a corresponding respect for the centre and its facilities. Most student services are available from the one integrated service which enables face-to face contact for over 72 hours per week on the basics of most services. However, the deliberate intermingling of social interaction and learning on such a large scale sets this model apart from other innovative designs, which have hitherto been on a small scale and seen as less central to the main campus. The Principal combined the success of the learning café with his desire to create a campus hub. This means that the Saltire Centre has five entrances and exits connecting the building with the main teaching blocks.

 

• The Learning Café and the Saltire Centre are both overt strategies to re-socialise the University and encourage conversations between students and staff that engage the whole community as co-learners, exposing their understanding and ideas to those of others. It is this questioning and dialogue that lead to deep understanding of concepts and ideas.
• The University also took the opportunity to review the emphasis on storing books and journals on campus on open shelves and put two thirds of resources into compact storage. This enabled the building to further develop the emphasis on people in the building rather than resources.

 

Since the opening of the Saltire Centre, the Learning Café has changed to accommodate a different user group as all its facilities are available in the Saltire Centre. The new users are people coming to the University for short courses.

 

The Saltire Centre links the teaching blocks on campus, providing easy access to 1800 places to study; including a 600 seat learning café, 400 computers and 150 laptops to borrow and use anywhere.

 

Key to the design is the gradual transition between social and solitary purposes which is reflected in the arrangement of computers and tables, so that each floor suggests a movement between social and interactive forms of learning towards quieter activities at the back, a change that is reiterated in the floors themselves, with silent learning dominating the top floor and social interaction the ground floor. This mood change is reflected in colour and design features, and supported by use of background sound at the entrances.

 

There is a large variety of seating available allowing user choice - the bean bags proved extremely popular!

Assistance can also be gained from an online Student Homepage as well as from staff working at the Base, a central information point located on the Ground Floor. Specialist seminar areas and consulting rooms in the Saltire Centre can be utilised for drop-in counselling and advice.

 

It is the hub of the learning activities in the university, providing a range of functions related to learning; from social areas and student services to wireless-enabled group learning spaces and library facilities.

 

The Centre's four-storey atrium spaces are flooded with sunlight or alive with light graphics after dark. Douglas fir has been used in the construction of wooden walkways and beams. The high ceilings together with the south facing glass walls give a feeling of vast space.

 

The café is located on the ground floor together with a variety of tables, chairs and screening. This area can also be used as exhibition or event space.

 

From the first and fourth floor there is access to teaching blocks so that the building is not seen as something separate or 'over there' so providing for a continuum of learning space.

 

The building is totally wired (most of the furniture has network points and sockets) and totally wireless.

 

Type of project

 

The Saltire Centre is a new build within an existing campus footprint at Glasgow Caledonian University.

 

What is it?

 

SALTIRE: a building that provides Services for our students, Active approaches to Learning and Teaching, a 21st century way of managing our Information, the repository of our Research collections, and Engaging our students.

The Saltire is also the name of the Scottish flag. Also known as the St Andrew's Cross. The Saltire is pictured at the centre of the University's crest. An appropriate name for a campus hub; the social, intellectual, and cultural heart of the campus.

 

The brief developed to be about creating a building that offered a non- institutional important third place; a key place that people want to come to. With the increasing flexibility of delivery it would have a significant role in encouraging and supporting the sociality of learning, and generally add to the value of the student's experience of life as part of a University. Key to this is encouraging departments to make their work more visible by having events and exhibitions in the Saltire Centre.

 

The building design incorporates the understanding of the brief from a whole range of professionals who worked on the project: architects, interior designers, graphic designers, librarians, student support services, estates strategists, as well as those leading learning and teaching in the University during the build and design period.

The Saltire Centre builds on the success of the Learning Café which already existed in the university's previous library and information centre.

 

• The development of the Saltire Centre has been informed by a wide diversity of conversations with educationalists, architects, staff, students and designers.
• The thinking behind it is based on a body of experience and research as well as experience from the Learning Café at the University. The Learning Café at Glasgow Caledonian was an early experiment with the use of space to support project work, problem-based learning and group work. Developed in 2001, this was located on the ground floor of the old Library building. Here wired PCs and wireless hotspots integrated online communication and learning activities into the social ambience of a café. Computers were placed close to refreshments for quick access to email and other online resources over a cup of coffee. Laptops or tablet PCs could be used in groups from easy chairs or individually from high stools on benches around the café, depending on the requirements of the individual. The enormous success of the café as a learning space is verified by student evaluations.
• The students intuitively knew how to use this space from the first day that it opened and the evidence gathered from this experiment has informed the development of the Saltire Centre, underpinned by a growing acknowledgement that in a mass higher education system, peer group interaction and learning are crucial to student success.

 

It is the policy of the University to develop an ethos of partnership between students and the administration of library and learning resources. The design of the Centre and the way in which it is administered recognise the social origins of learning and the need for interaction between learners on different levels and in different forms. It is believed that a customer-service model will elicit a greater potential to learn amongst students and a corresponding respect for the centre and its facilities. Most student services are available from the one integrated service which enables face-to face contact for over 72 hours per week on the basics of most services. However, the deliberate intermingling of social interaction and learning on such a large scale sets this model apart from other innovative designs, which have hitherto been on a small scale and seen as less central to the main campus. The Principal combined the success of the learning café with his desire to create a campus hub. This means that the Saltire Centre has five entrances and exits connecting the building with the main teaching blocks.

 

• The Learning Café and the Saltire Centre are both overt strategies to re-socialise the University and encourage conversations between students and staff that engage the whole community as co-learners, exposing their understanding and ideas to those of others. It is this questioning and dialogue that lead to deep understanding of concepts and ideas.
• The University also took the opportunity to review the emphasis on storing books and journals on campus on open shelves and put two thirds of resources into compact storage. This enabled the building to further develop the emphasis on people in the building rather than resources.

 

Since the opening of the Saltire Centre, the Learning Café has changed to accommodate a different user group as all its facilities are available in the Saltire Centre. The new users are people coming to the University for short courses.

 

The Saltire Centre links the teaching blocks on campus, providing easy access to 1800 places to study; including a 600 seat learning café, 400 computers and 150 laptops to borrow and use anywhere.

 

Key to the design is the gradual transition between social and solitary purposes which is reflected in the arrangement of computers and tables, so that each floor suggests a movement between social and interactive forms of learning towards quieter activities at the back, a change that is reiterated in the floors themselves, with silent learning dominating the top floor and social interaction the ground floor. This mood change is reflected in colour and design features, and supported by use of background sound at the entrances.

 

There is a large variety of seating available allowing user choice - the bean bags proved extremely popular!

Assistance can also be gained from an online Student Homepage as well as from staff working at the Base, a central information point located on the Ground Floor. Specialist seminar areas and consulting rooms in the Saltire Centre can be utilised for drop-in counselling and advice.

 

It is the hub of the learning activities in the university, providing a range of functions related to learning; from social areas and student services to wireless-enabled group learning spaces and library facilities.

The Centre's four-storey atrium spaces are flooded with sunlight or alive with light graphics after dark. Douglas fir has been used in the construction of wooden walkways and beams. The high ceilings together with the south facing glass walls give a feeling of vast space.

 

The café is located on the ground floor together with a variety of tables, chairs and screening. This area can also be used as exhibition or event space.

 

From the first and fourth floor there is access to teaching blocks so that the building is not seen as something separate or 'over there' so providing for a continuum of learning space.

 

The building is totally wired (most of the furniture has network points and sockets) and totally wireless.

 

Finance

 

Funding Sources

 

Scottish Funding Council, University Resources.

 

Cost of Project

 

Build only £15.5M

Fees £6M

Fit out including computing £1.5M

 

Technology

 

 

• Flexible furniture design supports social learning that does not exclude use of IT. Some easy chairs in the Saltire Centre, for example, have been designed to house power sockets in the arms so that groups of users can plug in electronic equipment and plasma screens.
• Traditional learning resources also include usage of technology - digitally controlled compact shelving enables large quantities of books to be stored on shelves which can be rolled together, taking up considerably less space. Access to any given row is available at the touch of a button.
• Use of intelligent systems allows students to access IT support and to issue books themselves, creating a self-service environment which increases the student's sense of control over the environment. Self-issue/self-return machines are used to check library books in and out of the building electronically, and discreet use of mobile phones is not frowned on.
• An increase in online journals and compact shelving has enabled the Saltire Centre to double the number of study spaces compared to the old library building.
• 150 laptops on a loan scheme can be accessed in the Centre for use anywhere on the campus to support learning in other contexts e.g. outdoors in the Saltire Centre courtyard or on the terraces.
• Assistive technology is available with special height desks and high specification computers.
• An audible 'shush' lets users know when they are entering a quiet zone.
• Printers and photocopies have been screened so as to minimise disruption.

 

Funding Sources

 

Scottish Funding Council, University Resources.

 

Cost of Project

 

Build only £15.5M

Fees £6M

Fit out including computing £1.5M

 

Adding Value

 

• Technologies are integrated into all aspects of the Centre's functions, but do not dominate i.e. rows of computers in what Tom Finnigan, Director of Learner Support at Glasgow Caledonian University, describes as 'a computer farm' are not in evidence.

 

• ICT is seen as supporting the full range of purposes and activities that learning encompasses. The Saltire Centre reflects and sustains those different purposes through design, furniture and access to technology.

 

Technology is seen as assisting the university in providing a world-class learning environment, and also in establishing respect for that environment and supporting its purpose.

 

Most of the systems and processes were trialled for a few years in the previous building. The building completion date acted as a focus for changing operations before opening. Some services outwith the line management of the Director of Learner Support are not fully integrated yet. All computing and furniture in the Saltire Centre is new. There were therefore no problems integrating previous furniture into the design.

 

Success Factors

 

What Makes The Space Successful?

 

It is a single point of access for all services for students within the university, alongside the books, journals and computers expected of such a facility. The design of the building iterates the aims and aspirations of the university: that differences in learning style are to be welcomed, that learning should be seen as a social activity rather than just a solitary one, and that students should, as far as possible, be in control of their learning environment and of their own learning.

 

The arrangement of most furniture within the social areas of the centre can be easily reconfigured to match the size and purpose of the group and, where a discreet meeting point is called for, an inflatable igloo wall can be brought in to provide a sound baffle.

 

What Is Innovative About The Design And The Use Of The Space?

 

• The Saltire Centre is designed to be a self-regulating and highly flexible environment. Arrangement and type of computers, tables, shelving and background signals of sound and colour help users to recognise the type of activity preferred in each area. Data and power are carried in under floor cabling.
• Bespoke furniture contains power sockets to support use of laptops, plasma screens for viewing multimedia resources, display screen technologies, and for battery charging. Inflatable screens create an 'igloo' in which discussion can take place between groups, yet there is no permanence about these structures. Furniture can be reconfigured in the social areas for a range of purposes.
• Sound transference is contained by the separate access to floors from a central atrium stair with bridges across to each self-contained floor of the centre, by sound baffles in the ceiling, and by acoustic signals that suggest the type and level of sound each area is intended to support.
• The ground floor of the Centre provides a 2,500 sq m. one stop shop for all services to students - with individual service desks, meeting pods, inflatable barriers to create a meeting point, six consulting rooms located in the same environment as study spaces, and a café. The effect is that of a 'mall' in which students can shop for services, access email, find refreshments and meet others.
• This highly innovative model of learning presents a challenge to the established didactic, centralised model, in which control over students' access to, and behaviour with, learning materials is the norm. Experiences from the Learning Café have shown that there is a pattern to the way in which users behave within such spaces. Higher noise levels are to be expected at the start of a semester or academic year, when the need for social interaction is at its highest. This will then naturally diminish as the semester progresses and as the demands of the curriculum impinge on student behaviour.

 

The Saltire Centre opened at the end of January 2006, and has proved popular with users; a programme of regular feedback is ongoing and is feeding into developments within the space.

 

Top Tips

 

• Involve all stakeholders from the start. For example a roadshow of different furniture can enable engagement and feedback from a large number of people. Consult different teams on their ideas. Make the Students' Association part of the development team.

 

• 'Try before you buy' - the Learning Café and the development of the Base were important precursors to the Saltire Centre.

 

• Look at what information you have on services as an indicator of how to change things. If there are gaps back-up major decisions with research.

 

• Lots of appropriate situational technology is better than high tech solutions that few understand. Encourage people to bring and use their own technology.

 

• All senses come into play when designing facilities. You have to get everything right to make it work. Heating, ventilation, sense of place, stimulation and comfort; do your own checklist.

 

• Celebrate the opening. Prepare resources for academics to introduce the new facilities to students.

 

• Visit other places to see what you do not want to do as much as what you do want to do.

 

• Be innovative.

 

Post Occupancy

 

Changes Made As A Result Of Feedback

 

During the weeks leading up to examination time, the students wanted more quiet space; this was easily accommodated.

 

Originally the assistive technology was in a location agreed with students, one of the most accessible parts of the building. This proved too noisy and popular with others so it is now in an attractive quieter area on level 3.

 

The building is running at a high capacity for most of the academic year. The building is struggling to meet the demand from users. This is expressed in requesting conflicting needs: more quiet space, more group study, and more computers in whatever situation. This has led to a review which hopes to define areas more for most of the year. Group study remains a regular feature throughout the year and no longer does it ebb with exam time.

 

Contact Details

 

Tom Finnigan, Director of Learner Support: T.Finnigan@gcal.ac.uk
Jan Howden, Associate Director of Learner Support: j.howden@gcal.ac.uk

 

Case study written 2006