Not long ago, an educational space could be described through one simple arrangement: rows of desks, chairs facing the board and a clearly defined place for the teacher or lecturer. The interior was designed primarily to support a single scenario – transferring knowledge from one person to the entire group. But contemporary education rarely moves in one direction anymore.

A lecture for one hundred people in the morning. Project work in small groups later on. Individual study with a laptop at midday. An informal student society meeting after classes. In the evening – an event open to visitors from outside the institution.

Five different ways of using the same space. And five different expectations of how that space should be arranged.

A contemporary educational environment – whether a university, school, library or campus conference centre – is no longer designed around a single function. It has become a setting that must move smoothly between work, learning and meetings. Since few institutions can afford a separate room for every activity, much of this flexibility depends on one element: the furniture.

Why does an educational space need to be multifunctional?

The model of education has changed. Lectures are no longer the only form of teaching. Project-based learning, teamwork, small-group activities and independent study between classes mean that the same room may serve activities governed by completely different spatial rules throughout the day.

A lecture requires a front-facing arrangement and attention directed towards the speaker. Group work needs small islands distributed across the room. Individual study calls for quiet and separation. A meeting benefits from a freer, less formal layout.

A static room filled with rows of fixed chairs supports only the first of these situations well. The other four take place despite the furniture, rather than because of it.

This is why educational space design no longer begins with the question, “How many people can fit inside?” A more useful question is: “How many modes of work should this room support, and how quickly should it move between them?”

Group work mode. Furniture that can be rearranged in a minute

Project work and teamwork require genuinely mobile furniture. Not pieces that can theoretically be moved, but furniture that can be repositioned quickly during a class, without effort and without interrupting the group’s rhythm.

Poufs and seats fitted with concealed castors work particularly well here. The VOLT collection includes poufs in a variety of shapes – square, round and quarter-circle – with optional concealed castors and top panels.

In practice, this means that students can use the same elements to create several project islands within a minute, then move them back towards the walls just as quickly when the session ends. Quarter-circle modules can be combined into round discussion arrangements, while top panels turn a pouf into a compact surface for working with a laptop.

The MOOVIE collection follows a similar logic of mobility and changing configurations. Furniture that adapts to the format of the class rather than imposing one is essential if group work is to function naturally instead of requiring participants to force their way around static desks.

One principle matters above all: the less effort it takes to move a piece of furniture, the more likely it is to be moved.

A supposedly mobile element that requires two people, clearing the work surface and interrupting the session will, in practice, remain in the same place for the entire semester.

Individual study mode. Silence in a building full of people

Between classes, an educational environment changes mode. Groups give way to individuals who need to concentrate – to study, write an assignment or prepare for an exam.

That requires something often in short supply in a busy campus building: quiet, sheltered places.

Seating with acoustic screens and high backrests provides one possible solution. The NEBULA collection, with its system of screens mounted on sofas and armchairs, makes it possible to create individual study zones in corridors, entrance halls or shared library spaces without building separate rooms.

A student sits down, the screens reduce exposure to movement and surrounding noise, and a place that moments earlier was simply part of a circulation area becomes a compact study setting.

Upholstered QUIET acoustic screens provide an additional layer. They help reduce reverberation and define quieter areas within open interiors. In libraries and self-study zones, where sound reflecting from hard surfaces can turn a reading room into an echo chamber, this kind of furniture makes an immediate and noticeable difference.

The FRAME collection adds modules with integrated media ports – laptop work settings with access to power, also developed with neurodivergent users in mind. For some people, the opportunity to withdraw from excessive sensory stimulation is not an optional comfort, but a condition for effective learning.

In an educational environment used by hundreds of people with different sensory needs, this is not an extra feature. It is part of accessibility.

Meeting and event mode. A space that knows how to open up

The third mode is the meeting: from informal student society gatherings and tutorials to public events with external guests.

This requires the opposite of isolation. The space needs openness, a relaxed layout and furniture that encourages conversation while adapting quickly to larger or smaller groups.

Modular seating systems work well here because they can flow through the interior and create arrangements suited to the scale of the event. The SNAKE collection consists of seating modules that can be combined into complete circles, flowing serpentine lines or straightforward benches.

This makes it particularly useful in entrance halls, communal areas and places where the format of the meeting changes from one day to the next.

The modularity of FRAME can create more intimate conversation settings on a smaller scale, using poufs, tables and seating elements selected according to the number of participants.

Furniture intended for this type of use should also feel comfortable from the very first moment. Meetings in educational spaces can last a long time, and an uncomfortable seat quickly reduces both patience and attention.

Collections such as SAMOO, combining a visually light form with ergonomics suitable for longer use, respond well to this need.

One room, three modes. How should it be arranged? Practical advice for designers

Designing a multifunctional educational space involves several practical principles.

Choose one coherent mobile system instead of three separate furniture sets

The more elements come from one modular family, the easier it becomes to move between modes. The same poufs can form project islands at one moment and event seating at another.

Using fewer furniture types also simplifies logistics and storage.

Design for the speed of change, not merely the possibility of change

Furniture on castors, lightweight elements, stackable models and systems that can be connected without tools move between configurations within minutes.

Heavy furniture that requires dismantling will remain in one arrangement permanently, regardless of the original design intention.

Provide storage space

Multifunctionality requires some furniture to be stored when it is not needed. Without proper storage facilities, a flexible room quickly becomes a cluttered one.

Prioritise contract-grade durability

Educational interiors are among the most intensively used environments. Hundreds of users may pass through them each day. Furniture is moved continuously and exposed to heavy wear.

It should meet the requirements for public interiors, use highly abrasion-resistant fabrics and have a structure designed for this level of use.

Treat acoustics as a permanent layer

Modes may change, but reverberation remains. Acoustic screens and upholstered furniture should be treated as a basic part of the interior – one that continues to work regardless of how the room is currently arranged.

A space that learns alongside its users

The best educational spaces do not prescribe one way of using them. They respond to what the person entering the room needs at that moment – focused work, a group discussion, quiet study or a meeting.

This flexibility does not come from floor area alone. Nor does it come from technology. It comes from furniture that understands one interior may now need to become several interiors at once.

For designers and investors, this requires a change of perspective. Furniture is no longer simply the equipment placed inside a room. It becomes a tool that determines how the room functions.

It defines how many working modes the space can support and how easily users can move between them.

In an environment created for learning, this capacity for change is a value in itself.

FAQ

What is a multifunctional educational space?

A multifunctional educational space is an interior – such as a classroom, library, entrance hall or campus centre – that supports several modes of use, including teamwork, individual study, lectures and meetings.

Instead of assigning a separate room to every function, one space changes its character through mobile, modular furniture that can be quickly rearranged according to current needs.

It reflects the shift in education from lectures as the dominant format towards project-based, collaborative and independent learning.

What furniture works well in educational environments?

Mobile and modular furniture works best in educational spaces. This includes poufs with concealed castors and optional top panels, such as the VOLT collection, mobile seating such as MOOVIE, modular systems for meeting zones such as SNAKE and FRAME, and acoustic solutions for individual study areas, including NEBULA and QUIET screens.

The key features are ease of rearrangement, contract-grade durability and acoustic performance. Furniture should also meet standards for public spaces and use highly abrasion-resistant fabrics.

How can one room support lectures, group work and independent study?

The foundation should be one coherent system of mobile furniture rather than three separate sets. The same elements should be capable of forming a front-facing lecture arrangement, project islands and individual study settings.

It is worth selecting furniture on castors or elements that can be combined without tools, providing storage for unused pieces and treating acoustics as a permanent design layer.

A well-designed room changes modes within minutes, not quarters of an hour.

How can quiet study areas be created in a busy educational building?

Quiet in a busy open space is created by combining reverberation control with visual separation.

Upholstered acoustic screens such as QUIET and seating with acoustic side screens and high backrests, such as NEBULA, make it possible to define individual study zones in a hall, corridor or library without building separate rooms.

FRAME modules with media ports add access to power and can also support neurodivergent users who need protection from excessive stimulation in order to concentrate.

Why is mobile furniture more useful than fixed structures in education?

Because contemporary education is based on change. The same room may support a lecture, teamwork, independent study and a meeting within a single day, and each of these activities follows a different spatial logic.

Fixed structures support only one of them well and make the others more difficult. Mobile furniture allows a single interior to serve several functions, making more efficient use of space and responding more closely to users’ actual needs.

The condition is genuine mobility. A piece of furniture that is difficult to move will, in practice, remain exactly where it is.