Community spaces are changing. As we enter this new era, new design considerations are affecting how we create these spaces and design products within them that will keep us safe while staying connected. Libraries, schools, and workplaces are all affected and will continue to evolve as everyone figures out what the new normal is. Interact with a panel of experts within these spaces who are now changing the fundamentals of how we engage and what design considerations form the public space of tomorrow.

This panel will discuss some of the challenges they have encountered, some of the common new norms in design and ways to create connecting experiences in common spaces and turn new products for them into reality. A following Q&A session will invite members from the audience to share experiences and interact with the panel to discuss possible solutions for the evolving challenges we all experience.

Panelists:

Frank Phillips, a serial entrepreneur who designs for and has extensive experience in developing products for learning environments. As owner of Battery 621, one of Denver’s first coworking spaces he has learned from years of experience how to bring people together. One of his other companies Supple Collection builds furniture and fixtures for libraries, schools and other places where people come together to learn. http://www.battery621.com https://www.thepublicworks.biz https://www.supplecollection.com

Ali Johnston is an Interior Designer with Oz Architecture in Denver. Ali has spent the last 5+ years focusing on visionary research and innovative design in both K-12 and Higher Education with an integrated team of designers and engineers. She has worked extensively in these spaces and with libraries throughout Colorado to gain understanding of the unique needs for these environments, how they work and how best to equip, design and arrange them so people will flourish within. https://ozarch.com

Holly Whelan, Library Manager, Arapahoe Libraries. Holly leads libraries and librarians in their mission of and serving people. She has just seen the Eloise May library through a recent renovation updating and modernizing this space to be an example of the library of today. Now, she has overseen the reopening of her library, and others throughout the district, and faces the real-world challenges of shaping our experiences in these spaces and defining what they need to be in the future. https://arapahoelibraries.org