David Jakes Designs LLC

School architects and designers have the unique responsibility—and opportunity—to push the boundaries of traditional design, creating spaces that are beyond the historical and expected school design. In my latest blog post, I explore how architects and designers can transform the Discovery phase of the school design process to become a process for bold, collaborative design that reimagines educational environments. From developing creative capacity in educators, enlisting teachers and students as co-designers to creating diverse, off-campus design teams, and rethinking client visitations, I dive into strategies that expand creative perspectives and foster a more innovative, future-focused approach to school design. Check out the full post to discover how this reimagined process can empower architects and educators alike to create dynamic, purpose-driven learning spaces.

Read the full post here:

Rethinking Engagement in the Design Process to Promote Creative Outcomes — David Jakes Designs Transformative design means transforming educator mindsets.

Like many of you, I've been exploring generative AI through ChatGPT-4 and other tools. As a designer, I was interested in how this type of AI capacity could support a distinctly human-centered process. Over the past 6 months, I've come to some conclusions about the intersection of AI and design. My thoughts are captured in this post, Artificial Intelligence and the Design Process. In the post, I reflect on how I use AI to support my work and the potential of the tool to impact design. I provide an overview of the tools I use and how I use them. Also, this post was written entirely by me, but I have also included links at the end of the post to the same post where I asked ChatGPT-4 to improve it and a post written on the subject entirely by AI so that you can see the differences. Read it here:

Artificial Intelligence and the Design Process — David Jakes Designs Get that really smart colleague you’ve always wanted.

I'm looking forward to serving on the Reimagine America's Schools design team, working with the Clayton Co. School District (GA) and the City of Forest Park, GA, to explore the potential connections between a new middle school and the downtown Forest Park community. I've wanted to work with RAS for awhile now so I'm glad to have this opportunity.

Proud to have contributed to the design of WSR's new elementary buildings.

I'm excited to share part of the David Jakes Designs concept design for a new corridor space for Mason High School in Mason, OH. The current space could be considered a typical hallway with dated lockers that are no longer used by students. The corridor leads to the school's library, which is being redesigned as well. The design is also a proof of concept for other hallway areas throughout the school, and in part supports the school's move to personalized learning.

For the new design, the lockers have been removed to open the space to create new spatial opportunities. We've designed this as an invitational space that will promote the development of community and connect students to the larger library space, which the corridor leads to. The space features multiple options for furniture, along with benching and a gathering stair. We've included a whiteboard corner, which we believe can support ideation and community question-problem solving opportunities. The space also includes spaces for books in the gathering stair as well as a crowd-sourced little library along a pillar - a nod to literacy and to the library that is adjacent. Finally, we have added a grey wall calendar writable surface that can be used to advertise community events. Access to a new coffee shop in the new library completes the design. Thanks to Mason High School and Jason Meyering Architecture of Chicago (jasonmeyering.com) for being great design partners