Lusio architects designed the Next Level STEM Hub as a space for exploratory learning in Berkovitsa, Bulgaria.

The Next Level hub targets project-based learning in robotics, digital sciences and at the same time developing skills such as presentation, teamwork and communication. An essential space had to be planned for the teachers: a place where they could collaborate together to plan interdisciplinary classes, new ways to approach the traditional program and design collaborative classes between different grades and age groups.

It was required that this new space is radically different from the one on the first floor so that the older students could recognise it as their own and create it into a buzzing hub not only for study, but also informal communication. At the same time, it needed to have some common themes and not just feel alien to the design downstairs.

Once again, we decided to demolish partly the walls between the three spaces, so that they feel like a singular center. At the same time, several learning activities with different groups of students can occur at the same time because of the folding doors between the spaces. This way we can unite the digital lab and makerspace with the bigger space where presentations and group work happen. Tables with wheels add to the flexibility to the space and can be moved around as the learners see fit.

The teacher’s space also functions separately, or opens up to the larger space. In fact, it is supposed to even serve as a stage where the actors wait before the curtain (in this case a folding door) is pulled back to reveal the audience seated in the larger space. This creates not just opportunities for larger presentations, but also for small theatrical performances.

Design: Lusio architects
Photography: Doriyan Todorov