Rooted in research into emerging models in higher education, CoLab, designed by Pearson Lloyd, offers workspaces and institutions a versatile modular furniture system that empowers shared learning and collaboration.

Drawing on synthesised insights from 2 years of primary research into global pedagogy trends, CoLab is the outcome of Pearson Lloyd’s intensive project with Senator exploring emerging higher-education models and changing approaches to work.

1. Intelligent space

CoLab creates agile, adaptable environments for dynamic learning, socialising, and collaborative work. The system provides freedom and flexibility to reconfigure spaces to meet the changing needs and modalities of groups, unlocking real estate potential by making space intelligent.

2. Sit, stand, or perch.

CoLab’s multi-posture design supports a variety of positions and movements, improving engagement and optimising wellbeing. Pick the perfect posture to suit the task, then change when you need to inject fresh energy.

 

3. Power to everyone, everywhere

CoLab creates environments that support every mode of work, with an integrated power-distribution system to ensure a mains connection is always in easy reach. Thanks to power running through the central seating spine, workspaces are no longer tied to floor-box layouts.

 

4. Built for use

CoLab is constructed to combine the robustness and durability needed for everyday use, while maintaining the warm, welcoming aesthetic and engaging tactility of hospitality furniture. 

 

5. Repairable and recyclable

CoLab is designed in accordance with circular design principles, ensuring each component product in the system can be easily repaired. Exposed fixings promote ease of assembly, and simple on-site part replacement. Because no composite materials are used, any parts that do reach end-of-life can be recycled.

The way we learn, in education and throughout our lives, plays a crucial role in shaping who we are, how we develop and how we work. It shapes our attitudes, beliefs, values and skills, which influence our behaviour, decision-making and problem-solving abilities. Creative, collaborative and adaptable learning experiences lead to personal and professional growth, while rigid, linear and didactic experiences can impede our ability to learn and adapt.

The profound shift caused by the global pandemic changed not only how we perceive the workplace but also education. The traditional principles of formal learning – lengthy in-person lectures and campuses filled with back-to-back classrooms – are now under threat due to new technologies and teaching styles that have replaced the majority of in-person learning and lecturing. While learning can take place in both virtual and physical classrooms, spaces in campus buildings are not as flexible, typically serving only one purpose. But how do you foster connectivity and a sense of community when the new normal is so heavily tilted towards an off-site, rather than on-site campus?

Our increasingly digitalised worlds of learning and work demand access to power everywhere, all the time. For CoLab, Pearson Lloyd has created a versatile central power-distribution spine connecting each module, so layout is no longer dictated by floor boxes, and no one need head home in search of somewhere to charge.