Where Neuroscience Shapes Learning Environments

Moving Beyond the Physical Box
Co-presented by Charlotte Borghesi and Ana Mombiedro of educational design firm Kidzink, the session titled "Where neuroscience shapes learning environments" reframed how educators, architects, and school leaders ought to view physical learning spaces.

Borghesi, a mother of seven whose family lived across nine countries—resulting in her children attending over 30 international schools—opened with a stark observation: whilst educational pedagogy, curriculum, and technology have evolved rapidly over the past four decades, the fundamental geometry of the classroom has remained largely unchanged. Most learning spaces today still closely resemble classrooms from 45 years ago.
To address this disconnect, Kidzink’s research team spent a decade investigating the precise environmental factors that drive academic outcomes and student well-being. Their work culminated in the publication of their book, Beyond the Box, which codifies 31 science-backed quality factors for physical school design.

Redefining AI: From Artificial Intelligence to Architecture of Interaction
A central theme of Mombiedro’s presentation was a deliberate redefinition of the acronym AI. In an event dominated by artificial intelligence, Mombiedro urged attendees to consider AI as the Architecture of Interaction.
The underlying principle rests on human neuroplasticity. When a person picks up a tool—whether a tennis racquet, a golf club, or a broom—the human brain adapts its internal sensory map, effectively extending the physical boundaries of the hand to integrate the object as part of the body. In the same way, a child’s physical environment acts as an extension of their body and mind.

Before children interact effectively with digital screens, they interact with physical architecture. Learning is inherently an active process that requires spatial exploration, sensory input, and physical gathering. If a learning space is restrictive or poorly designed, it limits the student's capacity to form effective cognitive and social interactions.

The Core Science: Neuroarchitecture and Cognitive Outcomes
Ana Mombiedro, who holds dual qualification as an architect and neuropsychologist, explained that neuroarchitecture is the study of how built environments directly alter brain function and physiological states.
The physical design of a classroom directly influences three critical cognitive processes:

Attention: Influenced by visual clutter, natural lighting, and spatial boundaries.

Working Memory: Impacted by acoustic clarity and environmental stress factors.

Creativity: Heightened by organic geometries, flexible layout options, and varied spatial scales.

The Invisible Factors: Acoustics and Sensory Cues
Mombiedro highlighted that while school design is often judged on visual aesthetics (such as imagery shared on social media platforms like Instagram), the most influential environmental factors are frequently invisible.
A primary example is acoustic reverberation time. High reverberation times increase ambient noise, forcing the brain to exert significant cognitive energy merely filtering sound, which diminishes working memory capacity. Simple diagnostic tests, such as measuring the decay time of a single handclap, can immediately reveal the acoustic performance of a room.

Grounding Evidence: From Salford to the Hippocampus
The session referenced landmark research demonstrating the empirical link between physical space and learning:

The Salford 'Clever Classrooms' Study (2015): Landmark research established that 16% of a primary school child's academic progress over a year can be attributed directly to variations in classroom design.

Adult Neurogenesis and Enriched Environments: Groundbreaking research published in 1997 at the Salk Institute revealed that adult mice housed in 'enriched environments' (larger spaces with social companions and varied physical structures) generated significantly more, and better-ramified, neurons in the hippocampus than those in standard cages.

Spatial Memory Link: Drawing on Donald Hebb’s classic neuroscientific rule—"neurons that fire together, wire together"—Mombiedro noted her own research with primary schools in Spain. Children who were permitted to navigate freely through the broader school architecture demonstrated measurable improvements in memory tasks compared to those confined to static rooms.

As Kidzink’s co-founders summarise: "Even a mouse needs more than just a box."

The 31 Quality Factors Framework
To translate neuroscience research into practical architectural standards, Kidzink surveyed over 250 educators and cross-referenced their feedback with peer-reviewed literature across neuroarchitecture, neuroeducation, and environmental psychology.

The resulting framework organises 31 evidence-based quality factors into four core environmental domains:
Sensory Cues (11 Quality Factors): Focuses on invisible sensory inputs, including acoustic treatment, lighting quality, thermal comfort, olfactory design, and tactile materials.

Cognitive Activity (7 Quality Factors): Addresses spatial elements that support mental processing, such as the use of curved geometries (which reduce neurological threat responses compared to sharp angles) and personal storage that fosters a sense of spatial belonging.

Motor Aspects & Movement (7 Quality Factors): Encourages gross and fine motor movement through flexible furniture, varied floor levels, and accessible pathways that facilitate natural circulation.

Social-Emotional Interaction (6 Quality Factors): Designs spaces specifically for human connection, such as canteens configured to allow direct eye contact during dining, and breakout spaces equipped with scaled, ergonomic seating.

Developmental Scale: Mouse, Cat, and Elephant
A key insight presented during the session is that spatial scale must match human neurological development. A twelve-year-old student is not merely a double-sized six-year-old. Mombiedro remarked that placing an early years child, a primary pupil, and a secondary student in the same uniform space is neurologically equivalent to grouping a mouse, a cat, and an elephant together—they operate at vastly different sensory, spatial, and developmental scales.

Practical Takeaways for Educators and School Leaders
During the concluding audience Q&A, educators inquired about actionable starting points for improving existing facilities without undertaking major structural overhauls.

Where to Begin: Mombiedro advised prioritizing the 'invisible' factors first—specifically acoustics. Reducing echo and background reverberation yields immediate cognitive benefits for both pupils and teachers.

Early Years Focus: For early years and nursery environments, key priorities include direct access to natural light and outdoor space, the introduction of natural materials, and child-scaled environments that promote autonomous exploration rather than adult-directed sitting.

Evaluating Existing Spaces: To assist educators, Kidzink introduced a self-assessment diagnostic tool allowing teachers to score their current classrooms against the 31 quality factors.

The Bett Asia 2026 session underscored that the future of educational design lies not in surrounding pupils with more screens, but in shaping physical environments that provide the developing brain with the precise sensory, movement, and social conditions it requires to thrive.

Audio and written summaries powered by Gemini Notebook, a free generative AI tool grounded in your provided sources. Try Gemini Notebook for free. You can listen to the audio overview of the session here.