Office Line

Colour in an educational space can do far more than decorate!

Environmental psychology research confirms that colour directly affects students' concentration, mood and spatial orientation. A University of Salford study found that the physical classroom environment, including colour, accounts for up to 16% of the variation in students' academic performance.

At Cecil Hills High School, a NSW Government renewal project for one of Western Sydney's fastest-growing schools, colour wasn't an aesthetic decision. It was a purposeful design decision.

We worked with School Infrastructure NSW and Fulton Trotter Architects to specify five distinct fabric colourways across the lounge settings in the learning commons. Coral, Amethyst, Teal, Jungle, Mouse. Each one corresponds to a floor level and a room type.
The result: students orient themselves instinctively. They don't need to read a sign to know where they are. The colour does that work.

That's what we call by design.

Stay tuned for the Upcoming Cecil Hills High School Case Study

What a Week! 🙌 This year’s Learning Environments Australasia Conference, , delivered on every front, and it was exactly what we needed.

The question we hear from specifiers is: "How do we make cultural inclusion feel genuine rather than decorative?"

The answer usually starts with decisions made early in the process, not added on at the end. Specifying culturally meaningful fabrics at the furniture stage is one of those early decisions, and with the Spectator Collection, it doesn't add complexity to your project.

The Spectator was designed for the places people actually gather: library corners, breakout zones, school common areas, collaborative hubs. Its modular configurations adapt to almost any layout, making it practical for projects with complex briefs or tight footprints.

St Peter's Primary School understood that. They integrated Rosie Paine Fabrics into their library set-up beautifully, and we loved seeing it come together.

Is cultural inclusion part of your next project brief?

The brief says ‘flexible learning space.’ But flexibility without pedagogical intent is just furniture on wheels.

True flexibility means a student can read the room and make a choice that supports how their brain works that day. High seating for focus. Soft seating for collaborative tasks. Open floor for movement breaks.

That range doesn’t happen by accident. It’s designed in, piece by piece.

This is the work we do.

PedagogyAndDesign