From Multi-Useless to Multipurpose

A new generation of versatile multipurpose rooms on K-12 campuses maximizes school resources and creates resiliency for the future.

On the Highlands Elementary School campus in San Mateo, California, a new steel-and-wood multipurpose room is deceptive in its simplicity. With the precision of a Transformer, on a moment’s notice the bright open area can be turned into a theater space, with seating and equipment wheeled out from concealed spaces. Say the word, and the chairs disappear and benches and tables roll in for daily lunch service ... a series of co-labs ... or an event for the PTA.

“We worked with educators to make this a very rich space that celebrates the school community,” says LPA Design Director Helen Pierce. “It allows the life of the school to happen within it.”

The multipurpose room — a staple of many campuses — has often been seen as little more than a big room. Underutilized and underappreciated, they frequently sit empty outside lunchtimes or assemblies. Or the space devolves into a perpetual cafeteria or theater because seating and equipment cannot be easily moved or stored.

“The long-running joke is that multipurpose rooms lacking a strong educational or design framework become multi-useless,” says LPA Senior Project Designer Lindsay Hayward. “They don’t have the specific infrastructure to serve different uses well.”

With school districts seeking to maximize their capital investments, multipurpose rooms are a largely untapped resource for improving a campus community. They can accommodate different learning formats, support new ideas and fulfill an array of recreational and hospitality needs. Their open floor plans can suit PE, lunchtime and interactive learning labs, while their stages can fulfill dual purposes as a music classroom or presentation space. They can also offer new revenue streams for school districts as leasable spaces for community members and organizations.

Strategic Setups

Building or renovating a successful multipurpose room starts with a vision cosponsored by school district leaders and stakeholders. During these early planning sessions, participants are often focused on a single-use case for their multipurpose room, says LPA Senior Project Manager Denise Flatley. “That’s when designers can step in and suggest a realm of creative possibilities for this space.”

Hayward recommends programming a primary, secondary and tertiary use for the multipurpose room. “Establishing a hierarchy of the uses will help dictate a long list of design factors, from siting to component selections to how much storage to include,” she says. For example, if the room’s primary use is for performances, the design should prioritize quality acoustics, theatrical lighting and adequate seating, ensuring it is a top-notch performance space before addressing secondary and tertiary programming.

Multipurpose room siting will be influenced by whether the space is exclusively for the campus or for the greater community. In California’s Anaheim Elementary School District, Sunkist Elementary School’s new multipurpose room was located toward the front of the school, with a secure entry, creating an opportunity to lease the space on evenings and weekends. “For use after hours, a public-facing site allows people to access the space without traipsing through the entire campus,” says LPA Managing Director Steve Key. To limit the general public from wandering school corridors, community-serving facilities can be designed as self-contained entities, with their own restrooms and amenities sized for adult and student users.

For Britton Middle School, the desire to create stronger links to the community played a major role in the design of a two-story multipurpose space, which sits on a prominent corner in Morgan Hill, California. By day, the two-story venue hosts a café, media center and study pod, with plenty of flexible indoor and outdoor areas for collaborative and educational uses. By night, the illuminated structure is a popular rental space, with a separate street-side entrance, that hosts everything from public lectures to charity dinners and weddings.

To make spaces more adaptable, seating areas and operable walls are key. A big room intended for performances and assemblies can integrate platforms and bleachers to organize people at different heights. Operable walls can divide the room to run multiple classes simultaneously. For schools located in temperate weather areas, movable glass walls give multipurpose rooms direct access to the outdoors and expand their floor plans.

At Sunkist, stackable chairs and tables on casters enable quick reconfigurations of its multipurpose room to suit its primary use as a performance venue that supports the school’s curriculum, which centers on the visual and performing arts. The portable furniture also suits the space’s use for student assemblies, classes and dining, as well as for leasable event space. A folding exterior glass wall opens the multipurpose room to the campus’s array of outdoor spaces, including a seating area covered by a vivid yellow pavilion — a nod to the area’s agricultural heritage — for additional dining options and event overflow.

Essential Amenities

Storage space is often the key to building flexibility into a multipurpose room, Pierce says. “If one use requires tables, you can’t use the multipurpose room in other ways unless you can put those tables away.” Storage areas adjacent to Sunkist’s multipurpose room, for example, hold unneeded chairs and tables. On stage, black tiered seats can tuck away and camouflage into the backdrop.

For Highlands, the design team faced a tight budget but still prioritized storage. To make the most of the available footprint, the design strategically excluded circulation space by flanking the double-height multipurpose room with two support areas: One houses storage and restrooms, and the other a kitchen, a servery, additional restrooms and mechanical spaces.

Kitchens and serveries allow occupants to serve hot lunches and concessions at performances and events, increasing the space’s versatility and leasing appeal. Britton’s catering-style kitchen supports the middle school’s double-height café, a popular hangout space for the campus, which is also equipped to handle the volume of food served at larger events.

Detailed to Last

To produce long-term value, multipurpose rooms must be designed with adaptability and resilience in mind. Technology infrastructure should be universal and flexible in acknowledgment of its rapid evolution. “Some equipment still requires an analog connection while others connect only wirelessly,” says LPA Managing Director Steven Key. “We try to include extra conduits in walls to future-proof these multipurpose rooms for inevitable changes.”

Details such as space controls must also be planned to minimize the struggle of finding light switches and audio-video panels. With the short lifespans of today’s technology and a variety of users coming into the space, the ability to switch out equipment without cutting new holes into walls or ceilings will help mitigate the need for future renovations.

Throughout the space, material and finishes can make a big difference in uses and resiliency. Durable, low-maintenance finishes, such as resilient vinyl or polished concrete flooring, are often practical choices for their longevity and minimal need for upkeep. Acoustic treatments, such as curtains and panels, should be easy to clean or replace as needed due to wear and tear.

Resilience can take many forms. As building and energy codes evolve to reflect ongoing research in climate change, extreme weather events and natural disasters, any capital project must be designed with the health, welfare and safety of users in mind.

Britton’s all-electric student union was designed to reduce its fossil fuel use by 65%. Solar fins and sunshades permit and control the use of natural light, while ceiling fans and operable walls and windows promote natural ventilation. Its roof also can support the future installation of photovoltaic panels to help meet the school district’s goal of net-zero energy.

Multipurpose rooms are all about efficiency. By focusing on the specific campus goals, a well-designed space can produce results and support students and educators for generations.

Multipurpose rooms (MPRs) can offer newfound opportunities for K-12 campuses and their surrounding communities. For Catalyst, Sunkist Elementary School principal Stephanie Shumate and Alex Kang, director of facilities, planning and construction for the Anaheim Elementary School District, discuss tips for designing a successful MPR that lives up to its name.

What steps are critical in the early stages of planning an MPR?

Alex Kang: A facility master plan can help lay out your school district’s short- and long-term needs. The school district also needs to select a project delivery method that will result in an environment that lets educators focus on educating and not on infrastructure issues, like clocks that never work. Many school districts default to whatever is the fastest and most economical.

Prior to engaging an architect, my department and I also meet with the school principal to understand what they’re looking for.

Stephanie Shumate: At Sunkist, we wanted a space that would support community events and showcase our district’s visual and performing arts program (VAPA). By laying out these goals, we identified major design features: high-quality sound systems and acoustical design, a public entrance that connects to the main street, and movable exterior sliding glass doors that expand our MPR outdoors.

Which stakeholders should participate in the planning and design process?

Shumate: Our bonds oversight group and local community members were critical to our focus groups. We also engaged school administrators, parent leadership teams and at least one certified teacher representative. We brought in maintenance teams to discuss long-term infrastructure upkeep, and our IT teams to recommend technology. Because of our project’s emphasis on VAPA, we included our music director and teachers.

What questions should educators be asking in the design process?

Kang: I continually check in with different end users to ensure they are comfortable with the design logistics, such as the location of entrances and different room adjacencies.

Shumate: I often asked about the training we would need to operate our MPR’s theatrical systems. We have an amazing lighting and sound system, but we had to train our teams how to use it because it’s unique within our district.

Seating and storage are also critical. Consider what you will need for seating kids during lunch and parents during performances. Where will you store those pieces when you don’t need them? And bathroom placement is critical for after-hours facility usage. I think locating restrooms in a private alcove rather than in the main audience area is better.

What makes for a successful MPR?

Shumate: How well people flow in and out of the space. I’m always thinking about safety and egress. If something were to happen, can everyone get out safely? I appreciate having several entrances and exits.

Kang: A successful MPR is safe, user friendly and easy to maintain. For example, its flooring material shouldn’t require waxing every six months.

Shumate: A beautifully designed MPR is a gift. Every photo I take inside our MPR looks great, which means I don’t have to arrange for a backdrop for every event. That’s why our MPR is popular in our community and rented out very often.