ABSTRACT
KEY POINTS: x The UK higher education system is becoming increasingly diverse.
This diversity is expressed in the use of space, particularly between teaching-led and research-led universities. Space will be subject increasingly to remodelling for new needs or to meet new standards. With imaginative design, space can be deployed flexibly to meet multiple uses
x Increasingly, more provision is being made for student-led and ‘blended learning’ (a mixture of face-to-face plus IT-mediated learning). This will demand more relatively small and adaptable spaces. IT developments are enabling more intensive use of space for teaching and learning
Contents 1 Introduction 2 Layout guidance 3 Environment 4 Do’s and don’ts 5 Briefing overview 6 Bibliography
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Definition Universities are places of learning and research in a variety of subjects at the highest level and are often, therefore, described as being institutes within the Higher Education sector. Derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which could be translated as a ‘corporation of masters and scholars’, the university was conceived as a place of academic freedom in contrast to specific training for crafts or trades in the medieval period. In time, universities were authorised to confer degrees and are now significant contributors to national and regional economies all over the world.
