Sprout Space

Sprout Space

According to the Modular Building Institute, there are approximately 300,000 portable classrooms currently in use across the United States. As school budgets were slashed and classrooms became increasingly overcrowded, these modular learning environments seemed like inexpensive, temporary fixes; instead, many have turned into permanent problems, posing serious health risks to the eight million children who learn in them each day. It was these concerns that generated the design inspiration for Sprout Space™.

An innovative solution to the continuing need for mobile classrooms, Sprout Space is a paradigm shift in the design of modular classrooms. It is fast to deploy and is completely customizable as either a permanent or temporary classroom. While designing the space, a conscious effort was made to select healthy building materials, provide ample amounts of daylight to the interior of the space, and increase ventilation. Numerous design features such as sun shades, integrated rainwater collection, photovoltaic roof panels, LED lighting coupled with lighting controls, efficient heating and cooling systems, and eco-friendly materials make Sprout Space an excellent example of passive and active green building strategies. These strategies help it operate as a net-zero energy building with the eventual goal to provide an energy independent classroom.

Every aspect of the Sprout Space classroom was designed with the goal of enhancing student learning. The classroom’s dynamic design encourages various teaching styles and seating arrangements, impromptu collaboration among peers, and outdoor learning through its exterior teaching walls. The building construction is also flexible, allowing up to 1,500 total square feet of space and multiple buildings can be linked together to create an entire campus.

Sprout Space classrooms are built in a factory and delivered directly to the site. Constructing the building in a controlled environment provides numerous advantages over on-site construction. Some of these advantages include, reduced cost, and reduced construction time, decreased disruption, less construction waste, a longer building life-cycle, and the elimination of mold growth during construction.

The most ingenious feature of Sprout Space is the building itself—it’s designed to be used as a real-life teaching tool. The butterfly-shaped roof enables the building to capture rainwater, which can be turned into a lesson about water recycling and the water then be used to irrigate a teaching garden.

The students can also learn about the sustainable features inside their classroom. All of the ductwork is made out of fabric, so it expands and contracts as fresh air enters the classroom. It is quiet, so it doesn’t distract, but provides another teachable moment about the classroom environment.

In March 2013, Sprout Space was showcased at the National Building Museum as part of their Green Schools Exhibition. The classroom served as a “working exhibit”, housing a variety of the museum’s educational programming during the exhibition.