Interior Renovation Design for Leyu College’s Discipline in Reading and Sharing Space

Design Team
Leading Faculty: Gao Peng, Zhao Qi, Wang Xituo
Students: Yang Shuhan, Ying Ruotong

Project Background

The research on educational space service design is an important focus of the Service Design and Social Innovation Laboratory at the Beijing Normal University ‘s School of Future Design. It aims to conduct interdisciplinary and cross-field cooperation based on environmental design and service design, focusing on the interaction processes, functional needs, and behavioral patterns of teachers, students, and spaces. The goal is to provide teachers and students with more proactive, creative, and emotional space experiences.

Leyu College is established by Beijing Normal University in July 2020 at its Zhuhai campus. It cultivates publicly-funded students and "Zhiyuan Program" students with targeted career paths in innovative ways, exploring and fostering a “academic school + residential college” collaborative education model that aligns with the goal of cultivating "great national teachers", in order to implement a comprehensive education approach.

Project Overview

The current architectural space of Leyu College is converted from student dormitories. The original structural grid and spatial layout of the original building limit the space's potential for renovation and use. The teacher-student shared reading space on the third floor, which includes five major subject reading spaces, conference discussion spaces, leisure spaces, etc., is an important space for students' independent learning and communication. However, due to the limitations of the original structure, there are problems such as insufficient space fluidity, unclear subject characteristics, and unclear functional division. Based on the original space's shortcomings, as well as the needs and pain points of the students and teachers, we have carried out a redesign of Leyu College's subject reading sharing space and established a standard design for the subject color system.

Project Design Plan

Layout Plan

The spatial layout primarily addresses two pain points: one is to reduce the sense of oppression of the columns at the entrance by changing the direction of the entrance and the main pedestrian flow path to reduce the volume sense of the column; the second is the unclear characteristics of the subjects. Based on the re-layout of the space and the needs of education and teaching, the space is divided into five major subject spaces: education, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, and science. While maintaining the transparency and visual flow of the space, the space is re-divided with color and different functional attributes.

Space Service Design

We apply system thinking from service design to address the needs of different user types, manage service flows, and cater to diverse cultures. The design concept of integrating the five major subject identifiers, subject colors, and subject spaces is used for education space service design. In the space design, the standard color system and color icons are used to divide the subject space and reduce the sense of volume of the columns. Different physical and information touchpoints are set according to the different behavior patterns and communication habits of teachers and students, creating an environment that encourages emotional interaction and leisure reading for teachers and students.

Image: Spatial Rendering

Le Yu College Subject Color System Standard Design

Showcase of Space After Renovation

Project Summary

Dong Jie, Teacher, LeYu College, Beijing Normal University

To create more student-teacher co-education spaces, cultivate the habit of internal driven development of normal students, and enable normal students to be inspired in speculation and communication, Le Yu College, with the strong support of the university, cooperated with the School of Future Design to transform the space on the third floor and create a space for the college's education concept. During the process of space construction, the space design concept, visual system, and environmental creation design concept are matched with the college's education concept, and the content of teacher education, general education, and community education is integrated into every aspect of space function and cultural display. It highlights the characteristics of Le Yu College and creating a student-centered, interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, immersive, interactive learning educational space and a multi-open learning community, fully playing the role of environmental education. A good learning and activity environment can attract students better, make the college a true platform for teachers and students, students and students to communicate, co-educate, and create a genuine culture.

Zhao Qi, Teacher, School of Future Design, Beijing Normal University

Looking back at the entire design process, it can be found that to design an educational space, it is necessary to have a full understanding of the laws of education, to understand educational goals, educational content, the path of education implementation, and educational achievements, and to precisely analyze the needs and pain points of the applicable groups of educational spaces. Only by combining the specific situation of the space can it be more detailed and innovative, and create a better emotional connection of space.

Wang Xituo, Teacher, School of Future Design, Beijing Normal University

The project uses the method of service design to study people's behavior and service content in space, combines space design and brand system, and performs design output as a whole. In the future, the college will continue to adopt project-based learning methods, integrate interdisciplinary design and research methods, and provide students with more opportunities to participate in practice, so as to cultivate more excellent talents with innovative spirit and practical ability.