'CoLab,' collaborative and customisable furniture for new-age learning and working

Can classrooms and workspaces be transformed through furniture upgradation, to create more engaging spaces for learning and working?

The way we learn has a significant impact on how we develop into adults, who we become, how we interact with society and contribute to it through our scopes of work. Learning environments of the future can (or should) transcend the limitations of conventional, and sometimes stagnant classroom setups, to embrace a more dynamic, engaging, and collaborative setting geared towards holistic growth. Taking a leap towards revolutionising classroom learning, London-based design studio Pearson Lloyd has developed CoLab in collaboration with furniture design brand, The Senator Group. The global coronavirus pandemic brought about a significant impact that altered not only how we perceive workplace designs, but also how we view classroom spaces CoLab aims to endow workspaces and institutions with a flexible, modular furniture system comprising tables and chair designs that foster shared learning and collaborative spirits.

The project is based on research by Pearson Lloyd led by co-founders Tom Lloyd and Luke Pearson, into innovative furniture design that explore emerging higher-education models, and changing approaches to designing office spaces. “Our research for Senator has shown that we need to understand changes in how education is being delivered, to realise new ways of collaborating with younger generations. The majority of senior staff have received a completely different learning experience from those they are expected to manage currently. CoLab replaces outdated desk-bound dynamics, creating a future-facing furniture system for classrooms and workspaces equipped to nurture social and interactive learning and work,” shares Lloyd, on the inspiration behind the CoLab collection.

As per the furniture designers’ research, long, in-person lectures and campuses full of back-to-back classrooms were once the cornerstones of formal education. Today, however, these elements are being replaced by newer technologies and instructional methods that have largely supplanted in-person learning and lecturing. Prior to the pandemic, Pearson Lloyd and Senator began a 24-month research project to examine the shifting nature of present higher education. This project involved teachers, lecturers, students, architects, designers, procurement, and facilities, and the Trent Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT) at Nottingham Trent University in England. The studio used its 25 years of cross-sector experience to investigate new developments in instructional strategies, building usage, and educational institute requirements. It quickly became clear that the furniture used for learning spaces, which often originated from the restaurant and office furniture industries, did not meet the needs of staff and students as their end users.

In collaboration with TILT at NTU, Pearson Lloyd Design Ltd. identified the need for an informal, multi-modal, multi-posture, and tech-enabled learning space. This research brought to fruition CoLab, carefully crafted for both formal learning and informal peer-to-peer interaction, without the need to reconfigure the space itself. The multi-posture design of the CoLab furniture collection encourages a range of postures and movements, enhancing engagement and well-being in tandem. The ideal stance can be chosen and then switched, whenever new vitality is required.

Another issue students face within classrooms, is not having enough charging points. Pearson Lloyd ideated a solution by integrating a power-distribution system to ensure a mains connection is always within reach. The spaces are no longer restricted to floor-box arrangements, owing to power running through the central seating spine. “Our increasingly digitalised worlds of learning and work demand access to power everywhere, all the time. CoLab is designed around a power-distribution spine connecting each module, so you are never in search of somewhere to charge. It is right there where you need it,” the studio confirms.

CoLab was built with the strength and durability required for regular usage, while preserving the warm and alluring tactility that most hospitality furniture are conceived with. For this product design, longevity and sustainability were deemed as crucial tenets. To maximise lifespan, the design agency made sure that every piece remains sturdy enough to endure the demands of regular use. Made with exposed fixings to allow for user-led updates, repair, and replacement, the furniture collection is created in accordance with circular design principles, where each component can be repaired with ease. The product designers avoided utilising composite materials for the chair and table designs, ensuring any part that reaches the end of its lifecycle can be recycled with ease.

CoLab is also underscored by features of sustainable design, guided by the shared ideologies of Pearson Lloyd and Senator. The studio's vision of creating designs that respond to challenges by enhancing the experience of everyday activities, combined with The Senator Group’s wisdom of retaining complete control of quality at every stage of production rendered CoLab a holistic design to solve the problem it is designed for. “Having worked with Pearson Lloyd for many years, we have built a level of trust that has enabled us to collaborate in such a unique way that has resulted in the creation of CoLab, a rigorous design process, rooted in research, made possible by our unrivalled capabilities as one of the world’s leading independent workplace manufacturers. I am proud to say that this project was made possible by our fierce independence, our natural curiosity to question, and our desire to build lasting relationships. Never before has a Senator Group product encapsulated these values that I hold so dear,” shares Robert Mustoe managing director of The Senator Group.

Text by Ria Jha