Designing Learning Environments

We delight in the design of learning spaces and classrooms that will inspire and engage students, enable teachers to teach, and bring the vision of your school or university to life in a compelling and tangible way.

Whatever Your Immediate Need, We'll Start There

Wherever you have in mind to start, we can meet you there. We provide you with the combined expertise of a senior design team who have worked on some of Australia's most interesting projects.

If you are just after an innovative classroom design, or a new school building design, we can deliver that for you. If you're also interested in budgeting for the space, project management, and even the construction works, we have the team and the building experience to help you end to end.

We're not cookie cutter. We'll assemble the right team, the right set of skills for your project. This could involve going out to market on your behalf to find the perfect designer to match your vision, and working with them.

The variety you'll see in our track record will reassure you we're not copy/paste designers. Our portfolio includes public and private schools, universities, laboratories, STEM and STEAM spaces. We can design against any kind of budget and have the project management experience to pre-empt and neutralise construction challenges before they even materialise.

Learner Centred Design and Teacher Engagement

Our design process is anchored in the "in the classroom" know-how of veteran educators can who anchor every design decision in deep experience of effective teaching and learning. It's about identifying what great learning can look like at any age for any size and shape of learner, and building out from there.

Currently a transformation is occurring toward flexible and collaborative learning spaces, and open learning spaces. Schools and universities understand that experiential, hands-on learning, and authentic learning frameworks such as Project-Based Learning, are critical to learner engagement and success. Spaces and technologies need to enable this sort of learning - makerspaces, project spaces, flexible spaces that will adapt to the learning intention from moment to moment.

It's high time that "21st Century Learning" became a reality. However, we cannot simply "build a space" and expect it all to just work. We need those spaces to grow from the shared vision of teachers and students of what learning can be at its very best. Our design journey for your learning space can ensure this shared vision is your firm foundation for success.

Connected to the World Whose Problems Your Students Will Solve

When the NSW Association of Independent Schools wanted to a new office and professional development space, they called us. When Goodstart Early Learning wanted to reinvent their HQ, they chose Amicus. Why?

It's because our team bridges the worlds of learning and work. The human-centred design methodology we use for development and delivery of learning spaces are the same we use for workspaces. We've worked with big technology firms like NTT, advertising firms like M&C Saatchi Group, and fintechs like Zip Co. And the next day, we're working with schools and universities.

What we know is that schools, universities and workplaces all share similar aspirations to see the very best achieved by their people. The journeys are shared journeys.

We're at the cutting edge of workplace design and workplace culture, and can use this to inform learning space design and learning culture. Your classrooms of today can truly prepare your students to thrive in the workplace of tomorrow.

Start your design journey

If you'd like to read more about our education design portfolio, expertise and philosophy, read our eBook below or browse through our recent projects.

When you're ready for a chat, drop us your details and we'll reach out.

If you're ready to share a design brief, we're ready to jump straight into solutions.

Our Team
  • Experience Counts
    Robert Frost once said, "How many things have to happen to you before something occurs to you?".

    Perhaps this is the most poignant way to introduce the level of experience that resides in the Education transformation team at Amicus. They have been there and they certainly have done it, but like all good educators, what always occurs to them is that the paradigm of learning is, and always will, be an infinite journey of discovery.

    The irony of the concept of experience is that it is beautifully vivid and somewhat essential for progress, but also a perpetual dream that we can never quite wake up to.
  • Steve Collis
    Education guru, award-winning teacher and Director of Innovation at the Sydney Centre for Innovation In Learning, Steve Collis joined Amicus in 2016 to lead its Strategy team across all sectors.

    Steve left the silo of education to take on a dream role at Amicus, providing human-centred research and visioning to underpin the creation of all new environments.

    His unstoppable obsession remains unchanged: how to achieve transformation not by willpower or effort, but by working with a single astonishing truth: what surrounds us in our environment exerts a powerful, and perhaps ‘harness-able’, force! The shape of our environment ultimately shapes us.
  • Sophie Fenton
    An educator, innovator, founder, researcher and strategist, education pioneer Sophie’s repertoire includes whole school design, curriculum adaptation and pedagogy innovation.

    She brings the experience and expertise of creating and launching schools, developing staff and designing innovative education programs to the Education strategy team at Amicus.

    Sophie is highly experienced in end-to-end design, from considerations of the physical spaces to the learning and teaching that happens in them.

    Drawing on her education expertise, Sophie tailors new environments through co-design and facilitates change through learning. She is inspired when working with leaders, teachers and learners to create spaces and experiences where they can flourish and their schools and universities can thrive. To learn in the best place, you have to place yourself with the learned.

    A multi-award winning educator, Sophie has completed a PhD in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, with a pedagogical focus on human-centred learning for the emerging cyber-physical world.

What We Do
  • Education Strategy Consulting
    We’re experts at uncovering how every puzzle piece fits together to enable your school or university’s purpose to become an actionable plan.

    Our education consultants know how to engage a room of leaders, of teaching staff, of students or of parents and find insights and directions that everyone can embrace.

    Our ‘Touchline’ method provides an integrated scaffold that is guaranteed to yield actionable answers – showing how pedagogy and teacher development fits with the set up of the learning environment and technologies to enable your vision to come true at a practical, moment to moment level.
    Learn More
  • Learning Environment Design
    Design takes you on a journey of creativity and inspiration that stays anchored to the learner experience.

    We not only offer our own in-house classroom design and school design expertise, we also regularly join forces and collaborate with a curated network of industry-leading designers and architects.

    We’re especially interested in marrying the most progressive potentials of innovative learning environments with the lived experience and practicalities of learners and teachers.
    Learn more
  • School and learning space construction
    We are highly experienced builders, having completed countless highly successful construction projects from minor interior fitouts through to massive ground-up infrastructure (we rebuilt Daydream island in a recent $70 million project).

    Our speciality is in integrating design and build with careful integration between the budget, design, and timeline.

    To set up your school building construction for success, we recommend early engagement in the role of project manager. Whatever your situation, get in touch and let’s see how we can assist.
    Learn more
  • School and Classroom Technology
    Education technology is an intrinsic component of learning environments. The technology, space, and pedagogy can work together to empower learners and open up incredible learning possibilities that will prepare students for an ever evolving digital world.

    We have an expert team of technologists who are fully fluent and up to date in the latest and best practice solutions for classroom technology.

    When they are not consulting in education they are consulting with Australia’s top workplaces, so you know the solutions will be aligned with the world in which your students will thrive.
    Learn more
Latest Projects
School Library Design
Al-Faisal College Library
Auburn, Sydney
Classroom Design
St Catherine's School
Waverley, Sydney
School Design
Education Provider (Confidential)
Murarrie, Brisbane
Science Lab Furniture & Design
Ravenswood School
Gordon, Sydney
Education Design
Association of Independent Schools of NSW
York St, Sydney
Science Classroom Design
International Grammar School
Ultimo, Sydney
People are enthusiastic to be here. You can tell there is a sense of belonging here that we didn’t have in our previous environment - it’s been a fantastic move.
- Jamie Davidson, Jamf
I feel that Amicus is working with us, Amicus have our interests at heart.
- Aaron Alphonso, Macquarie Media
The collaborative and engaging environment created by the Amicus project team, enabled an easy working relationship to be developed which made the entire build process simple, easy and non-combative.
- Laurette Chang-Leng, IHG
I have worked with many fitout companies but can honestly say that I have never come across anyone like Amicus! The team are so attentive and really know how to make your client feel extremely special.
- Diem Bui, Coles

Clients we work with

Download the ebook
Profile: Education Spaces
Like to learn more?
If you would like to learn more about how we can assist you with your next project, fill in your details below and we’ll be in touch.