Creating a dynamic feedback platform
The Mayfield project is Learning Environments Australasia’s biennial research program for emerging professionals. 2024 / 2025 brought together a powerhouse of 16 diverse voices – architects, educators, interior and landscape architects, and a project officer – to challenge conventional evaluation methods and rethink consultation – including DCA Architects of Transformation’s very own Architectural Graduate, Jaspreet Kaur.
The keynote presentation took place in May at LEA 3001: A Learning Space Odyssey providing questions, tools, and inspiration to take back to audiences own practice – no matter their role in the learning environment ecosystem.
Here Jaspreet shares a few key take-aways and insights she gained from her Mayfield experience...
“
It was awesome to get a chance to work with like-minded individuals from different backgrounds and cities. Felt like I was back at Uni.
It was challenging too - coordinating meeting times (across 6 time zones) and debating ideas virtually rather than in person, but it was certainly rewarding.
Being able to connect with peers in the industry, going through similar challenges as me.
The networking aspect of the project certainly pushed my out of my comfort zone.
The travel was both fun and exhausting.
It’s a good project and organisation to be a part of - the work we did in the end was presented to the industry and hopefully, it will bring change that affects us all.
The 2025 Mayfield Project Pitch
(View the full presentation below)
Our research identified a gap between the Occupancy Evaluations conducted at the end of a project by MoE and how well the space honestly performs from the user perspective over time. Not just in terms of acoustics and thermal comfort, but as a learning environment. We realised that an isolated study can’t be expected to capture complexities of a space. However, repeated & periodic studies can. And what’s better, is that it can help us build better learning environments.
Our “big idea” is a feedback loop.
The “end outcome” is an app - students, teachers, parents, wider community and leadership - all contribute by evaluating their learning spaces & school facilities they come in contact with everyday. This is done in the same way as a teaching program is evaluated at the end of term each year with the end goal of improved performance. But, with better graphics.
In the short term, this helps the school re-organise their Library furniture for example, to meet students need for focused study spaces. In the long term, it provides architects with first-hand user experience collected over years, in designing a new school Library. Taking it further, let’s say 10 years down the line - we can have a catalogue of such Library projects, designed with user feedback. We can now see patterns, predict trends and cater to user needs effectively.
What we want now? Is you!
Invest in this. Participate in your capacity as a teacher, leadership, industry professional. Encourage your school or practice to partner with us - so we can test this theory and build the app.