Social Constructs Found in Collaborative School Space Design

American classroom design has remained relatively unchanged for decades, however instructional practices have become exceedingly more varied. In recent years, school construction has adapted in the midst of instructional practices, safe school initiatives, energy efficiency, political and economic influences, and global interests, linking future workforce expectations with the educational system. However, the physical structural school landscape remains relatively untouched. Transitional change occurs with corporate inclusive collaborative design approach and educational stakeholders respond by developing relational capacity and mirroring interactive physical spaces. Analyzing workplace trends can enlighten us to architectural design’s influence on learning spaces and provide future building change direction. This study analyzes how corporate design, worker autonomy, and collaborative practices couple creating effective and innovative educational learning environments. Development of these spaces include influences from retail, corporate, and current architectural design trends resulting in new school construction which pushes community’s instructional heritage. Understanding where designs originate provides appropriate stakeholder input and ensures corporate collaborative structural elements find their way into schools. Aesthetic variables play into these new designs incorporating substantial glass frameworks and natural elements conducive with positive student and employee morale. Corporate workforces mirror these features as they impact social structures based on physical design elements. The question becomes, who is driving the design elements that appear in new school construction? Additionally, how are corporate design trends becoming more prevalent, implementing innovative physical features, and thus shaping student social structures? Thirteen interviews were conducted with individuals intimately involved in developing new school designs. Placed in a suburb of Kansas City, three buildings, at different instructional levels, were analyzed for design elements, impact on instructional practice, and development of teacher and student social structures. This study identifies the ultimate influencing role which dictated design changes from previous prototypes and illustrates the cohesion between corporate and educational design initiatives