Ichiro Shiomi / spinoff recently completed the design for Kogakuin University’s Learning Commons LC8 located in Tokyo, Japan.

LC8 (Learning Commons Hachioji) is an on-campus “third place” for students at Kogakuin University. Located on the first through fourth floors of the new Building 2 at the Hachioji Campus, the space was conceived in the campus general plan as a new kind of learning site for gathering and engaging in discussion outside of the classroom. This “learning commons” combines the functions of library, learning support center, and student hall typically found at any university, also goes beyond these conventional functions to provide flexible shared space that gives rise to a diversity of student activities.

LC8 is a place for students and faculties to gather, express themselves, and listen to others. This is the site where active learning is held on daily basis such as open English classes, spontaneous presentations in front of the white boards, exhibits of multidisciplinary presentations, group presentations in “fishbowl” glass-walled rooms, reading in the café-lounge, student meetings that take advantage of the moveable furniture, and multidisciplinary open seminars.

The space is intended to encourage these types of activities, and therefore the design aims to support diverse uses by exhibiting the activities of users. For example, the mirrored ceiling on the second floor displays the reflected movements of students, the spaces between the steel and wood bookcases on the third floor promote street-performance-like activities, and the collage-style library on the fourth floor gives rise to multiple simultaneous events. These design experiments stem from our approach of rendering visible, or “displaying,” the activities of students.

The second to third floors were designed by Iijima Design and the fourth floor was designed by Spinoff.

Designer: Ichiro Shiomi / spinoff
Photography: Nacasa & Partners