Learning Environments Australasia | The Mayfield Project 2025: The Mayfield Loop

Webinar Date: January 28, 2026
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET

1 AIA LU Pending

Every two years, the Mayfield Project brings together a cohort of emerging architects, designers, and educators to explore the future of learning environments. The 2025 Mayfield Cohort—16 professionals from across Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia—has spent the past year investigating one central question: How can we design schools that evolve with the people who use them? Through workshops, post-occupancy evaluations, and national interviews with education departments and design practitioners, the team uncovered a clear challenge: while we design schools with the best of intentions, our evaluation processes rarely capture the lived experience of those who teach and learn within them. Schools are treated like finished products—rather than dynamic ecosystems that grow and change. This session will reveal how the cohort moved from this insight to action—proposing a new model of continuous, participatory evaluation that embeds feedback into the everyday life of schools. The proposed framework redefines how educators, students, and designers collaborate—shifting from one-off consultation to an ongoing learning loop. At the heart of this new approach is The Mayfield Loop, a resource suite designed to make feedback accessible, meaningful, and continuous. By collecting real stories and data from teachers, students, and designers, the Loop aims to transform everyday experiences into evidence that can inform both teaching practice and future school design. The Mayfield Loop bridges a critical gap in education design—turning one-time projects into living systems of reflection and improvement. It offers a blueprint for how architects and educators can learn from each other, ensuring that every school space continues to grow, adapt, and inspire long after the ribbon is cut. The session will trace this journey—from early research and pilot testing, through plans for the Loop’s beta app development, and the launch of the supporting guides. Together, these tools empower schools to co-create environments that evolve with their communities and reflect the realities of learning today. The Mayfield Loop Teaching and Learning and Architect Guides are due to officially launch on the Learning Environments Australasia website in January 2026. Attendees are invited to participate, provide feedback, and help shape the next stage of development.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify and address the four major barriers that limit the impact of school design today: lack of user consultation, a focus on function over experience, communication gaps, and isolated post-occupancy evaluations.
2. Facilitate a process of participatory evaluation where teachers, students, and designers reflect together to create richer, more responsive learning spaces.
3. Learn how to utilise the continuous feedback, gathered through the Mayfield Loop, building a shared knowledge base across schools and design teams, closing the gap between design intent and lived experience
4. Understand when and how to utilise the two companion resources, the Teaching and Learning Resource and Architect Resource. These will equip educators and designers with practical tools to start using the Mayfield Loop in their own contexts.

Presenters:

		Agatha Partyka, RAIA, Architect (Tasmania) Agatha is an architect based in Lutruwita / Tasmania, working across educational, public and cultural projects. As a neurodivergent architect, her practice brings together conceptual inquiry, advocacy and practice-led research to foreground lived experience as design expertise. This work has been collaboratively developed through Learning Environments Australasia’s Mayfield Project, presented at the University of Melbourne Symposium on Designing Learning Spaces for Disability and Neurodivergence, and extended through professional leadership and advocacy within the Australian Institute of Architects, Parlour, and the Neuro-Atypical Architects Network.
		Nicole Kirby, Law Architects, Associate Architect (Victoria) Nicole is a registered architect at Law Architects, specialising in educational architecture since 2015. She has extensive experience delivering school projects, from master planning through to on-site completion. Nicole is passionate about amplifying student voice and designing inclusive learning environments that prioritise student wellbeing. Beyond her architectural practice and involvement with Mayfield, Nicole is actively engaged with Learning Environments Australasia. She is currently a member of the DEI Sub-Committee and Chair-elect of the LEA Victoria Chapter Committee, where she continues to advocate for young voices within the educational landscape.
		Ella Camporeale, Teacher & Curriculum Leader, (Adelaide, South Australia) Ella is a secondary teacher and Curriculum Leader for Art, Design and Digital Technologies at Westminster School, Adelaide. Prior to entering the education landscape, she obtained Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Architecture. She is a member of the Archi Ed Committee, an initiative of the Australian Institute of Architects – SA Chapter, and is a PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle, researching the intersection between architecture, immersive learning technologies, and secondary education.
		Olivia McKim, Brand Architects | Architect (Victoria) Olivia is an Architect at Brand Architects, originally from Adelaide in Kaurna Country and now based in Naarm, Melbourne. She works across the practice’s education portfolio, delivering projects for kindergartens, primary and high schools, with a focus on listening to clients and users to shape shared learning environments that people feel connected to. Alongside the technical delivery of buildings, Olivia is interested in the people behind architecture, particularly in the early stages of a career where collaboration and communication are essential. Through her involvement with the Australian Institute of Architects’ Emerging Architects and Graduates Network (EmAGN), she advocates for a more considered profession, recognising that designers who feel supported create stronger outcomes for education and the communities they serve.
		Alison Giancristofaro Keswell, TRCB Architect (Western Australia) Alison is an experienced architect specialising in education design across both public and private sectors. Her work focuses on creating learning environments that inspire, support, and empower students and educators. She is passionate about designing collaborative, human centred spaces that elevate the educational experience and strengthen connections within school communities. Guided by a commitment to high quality and purposeful design, Alison brings a deep understanding of how the built environment can positively shape learning, wellbeing, and engagement. Her approach is rooted in thoughtful communication, strong relationships, and a dedication to delivering spaces that enrich the lives of the people who use them.