A BENCH DESIGNED FOR ALL ASPECTS OF TEAMWORK IN CDIO PROGRAMMES

Learning spaces designed for teamwork and active learning in CDIO-based engineering programmes need to be equipped with appropriate furniture. Spaces such as the new Active Learning Lab at the University of Liverpool have been designed to be flexible and to be reconfigurable to suit widely different student activities. The specification for the furniture for this space therefore contained the following requirements:

• Nothing to be fixed to the floor, giving the potential for a single open space;
• Benches to accommodate teams of up to six students;
• Benches to be movable by one person, and to be capable of being linked to form a stage;
• Seating to be integral with the bench, so that when the benches are stored or configured as a stage no additional storage is required for seating;
• Maximum lockable storage available within the volume of the bench;
• No permanent projection above the flat upper bench surface;
• Power and data available on each bench via a single umbilical supply;

No ready-made solution meeting these criteria could be found from a commercial supplier so a custom solution was designed and 50 benches were commissioned. The design solution is presented in this poster.