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company WeWork, known for its stylish
co-working spaces for entrepreneurs and
freelancers. It has already branched out into
furnished apartments (WeLive) and a spa/
gym (Rise). Education is a logical next step.
The seamless confluence of work
and private life informs BIG’s design for
WeGrow. ‘Playful and transparent, yet home-
like and structured,’ is how the office refers
to its project. The design revolves around
an open-plan classroom and multifunctional
furniture able to accommodate a diverse
range of activities, including yoga, dance,
athletics and martial arts, not to mention
old-time school activities like reading.
In fact, WeGrow aims to turn its
young pupils, aged three to nine, into
budding entrepreneurs. ‘There’s no rea-
son why children in elementary schools
can’t be launching their own businesses,’
WeWork cofounder Rebekah Neumann
told Bloomberg. The Blue School also strives
to prepare children for the modern world
by cultivating their creative and problem-
solving skills. ‘We believe innovation is
something that can be taught and nurtured,’
says school cofounder Matt Goldman.
Desks required for the new Blue
School, which is a middle school – Rock-
well Group also designed the elementary-
level Blue School – are highly mobile and
configurable in ten ways. In the library, kids
can sprawl on cushions or sit in upholstered
nooks. ‘A variety of seating allows studentsto devise environments that work best for
them,’ says office founder David Rockwell,
whose open-plan layout features ‘a monu-
mental sofa, window seating, and a small
reading alcove to give students options
for both collaboration and reflection’.
The ground floor, meanwhile, is a
large open area that Rockwell compares to
a hotel lobby and describes as ‘the living
room’ of the project. Among other things,
it contains the planters that are used in the
school’s science curriculum and that double
as a source of food for school lunches. ‘The
entire school is a project-based, spontane-
ous, collaborative learning environment,’
says Rockwell. ‘Blue School’s philosophy
emphasizes that students should collabo-
rate and work together whenever possible,
and our design ensures that every space,
from the stairs to the hallways, generates
moments for planned and spontaneous
group learning and inspiration.’
Rockwell’s ideas for the design of the
school are based on the years of research he
did on his innovative play system Imagina-
tion Playground. One thing he discovered
was that ‘kids need to have the opportunity
for risk and failure. If children are physically
comfortable and emotionally at ease, they’ll
learn or feel free to experiment with or
express their creativity.’ – JS96 SPACES