Whether we are talking about a building’s entrance, or the walkways between activity zones in an open-plan environment, an effective transitional space can be described as a circulatory route. Whether located between indoor and outdoor environments or between different zones within a space, they act as a buffer and a physical link between individual areas.
Thanks to the trend for more open-plan learning environments, transitional spaces are becoming a key design fixture in UK universities. Large, open spaces are increasingly being divided into defined activity zones that give students the option to spend time in task-specific areas, such as spaces for quiet solo work, group study sessions or socialising between lectures.