At a Glance
Overview
DesignEmerging.AI partnered with Valere to build ClassroomReimagined.AI, the first platform that brings architectural design intelligence, educator insights, and AI-powered visualization together in a single, intuitive experience. The platform enables schools to design human-centered learning spaces without requiring a full architectural team, addressing budget limitations and limited access to design expertise that constrain traditional classroom design.
The Challenge
Traditional classroom design faces critical constraints: budget limitations, outdated architectural assumptions, limited access to design expertise, and lack of clear data showing the impact of space on learning. These barriers result in environments that fail to support student well-being, engagement, and performance. DesignEmerging.AI needed a scalable digital platform to democratize access to decades of design research and make human-centered classroom transformation accessible to any school, regardless of resources.
Solution Implemented
Valere engineered a comprehensive AI-powered platform on AWS that transforms how learning environments are designed. The system enables educators to upload classroom photos and instantly receive AI-generated design visions based on research-backed principles. The platform integrates collaborative planning tools, personalized design recommendations, and funding-ready reports, all while scaling across renovation budgets from light decorating to substantial renovations.
About the Company
DesignEmerging.AI brings together global design expertise and technology innovation to reimagine learning environments through the science of learning and human-centered design. The company’s mission is to make advanced architectural design accessible to any educator, transforming how schools approach classroom spaces.
Randy Fielding (CEO & Founder) is a world-renowned leader in human-centered school design with over 35 years of experience shaping learning environments across more than 50 countries.
Mario Vassaux (COO & Co-Founder) is a veteran technology innovator and product leader with deep expertise in software, gaming, and AI-driven user experiences.
Together, they envisioned a platform that could synthesize decades of design research and make it actionable for schools worldwide, regardless of budget or access to traditional architectural services.
The Challenge of Democratizing Design Expertise
Limited Access to Design Expertise: Most schools lack the budget to hire architectural firms for classroom redesign. Design knowledge remains siloed among expensive consultants, making evidence-based design inaccessible to the majority of educators.
Budget Constraints Without Clear ROI: Schools struggle to justify capital improvements without data-backed evidence linking space design to learning outcomes. Grant applications and funding requests lack the professional documentation needed to secure support.
Outdated Design Assumptions: Traditional classroom layouts persist despite decades of research showing how physical space impacts student engagement, well-being, and performance. Schools lack accessible frameworks to evaluate and improve their environments.
Fragmented Stakeholder Collaboration: Teachers, administrators, students, parents, and facility leaders rarely have shared tools to co-create and iterate on design concepts. This leads to misaligned priorities and missed opportunities for stakeholder buy-in.
Scaling Research-Backed Design: DesignEmerging.AI possessed decades of global research, design patterns, and field expertise. The challenge was translating this knowledge into a digital platform that could deliver personalized, research-backed recommendations at scale.
As Randy Fielding explained: “We needed to make 35 years of human-centered design research accessible to any teacher with a smartphone turning expert architectural knowledge into an intuitive, AI-powered tool that anyone could use.
The Partnership Approach
DesignEmerging.AI selected Valere to transform their vision into a scalable AI product. Several factors distinguished Valere:
- Technical Depth in AI and Education Technology: Valere demonstrated expertise in engineering AI-driven systems that synthesize complex domain knowledge into user-friendly experiences.
- Product Development Partnership: Rather than simply executing specifications, Valere collaborated closely with the founders to translate architectural methodology into digital workflows, ensuring the platform reflected DesignEmerging’s research-backed design principles.
- Scalable AWS Infrastructure Expertise: The team brought proven experience building cloud architectures that could support AI workloads, user-generated content, and multi-stakeholder collaboration at scale.
The engagement model emphasized close collaboration between Valere’s engineering team and DesignEmerging’s founders to ensure the platform authentically represented decades of design expertise while remaining accessible to non-technical users.
The Solution: ClassroomReimagined.AI Platform
Valere engineered ClassroomReimagined.AI as a comprehensive platform that makes architectural design intelligence accessible to any educator. The system integrates AI-powered visualization, evidence-based design intelligence, human-centered collaboration tools, and impact reporting.
Core Platform Capabilities
AI-Driven Visual Transformations
Users upload photos of their classroom spaces from any device. The platform’s AI system instantly generates reimagined design visions tailored to the school’s goals, constraints, and budget. These transformations aren’t generic templates, they reflect research-backed design patterns specific to the learning environment and available resources.
Evidence-Based Design Intelligence
Valere engineered models and workflows that surface design patterns based on decades of global research and real-world design precedents. Every transformation includes clear explanations of the why behind each recommendation, grounded in learning science and architectural best practices.
The system synthesizes World Economic Forum 2024 skills data, leading research on learning environments, user feedback from educators and administrators, and architectural design patterns derived from global best practices. These insights drive the personalized visualizations and recommendations users receive.
Human-Centered Collaboration
The platform enables stakeholders, from students to superintendents, to co-create, comment, and iterate on design concepts. Teachers engage students in co-designing emotionally supportive, high-performance learning spaces. Administrators evaluate priorities and strengthen funding narratives. Architects start projects with better-prepared clients who have clearly defined goals.
Impact and ROI Reporting
Schools receive automated, professional reports that communicate both learning impact and financial justification. These funding-ready documents support grant writing and board presentations, connecting design outcomes to learning performance and student well-being.
Scalable Across Renovation Budgets
ClassroomReimagined.AI adapts to multiple renovation pathways:
- Light Decorating: Paint, décor, soft furnishings
- Light Renovation: Lighting, ceilings, flooring
- Medium Renovation: Systems upgrades, new doors/windows
- Substantial Renovation: HVAC, wall adjustments, major finish updates
The platform intelligently adjusts recommendations and visualizations based on the school’s stated budget and project scope.
Platform Stakeholders & Use Cases
Teachers Engage students in co-designing emotionally supportive, high-performance learning spaces using the platform’s visualization and collaboration tools.
Administrators & Facility Leaders Evaluate priorities, justify capital improvements, and strengthen funding narratives with data-backed reports and professional documentation.
Architects & Design Professionals Start projects with better-prepared clients who have clearly defined goals, insights, and stakeholder alignment, reducing discovery time and improving outcomes.
Furniture & Equipment Providers Connect with schools who now understand their needs, preferences, and purchasing priorities, streamlining the vendor engagement process.
The Impact of Human + AI Design
ClassroomReimagined.AI represents a breakthrough in making expert architectural knowledge accessible to educators worldwide. By combining DesignEmerging’s decades of research and field expertise with Valere’s AI engineering and cloud infrastructure capabilities, the platform enables any school to design human-centered learning spaces.
The system doesn’t replace architects it empowers educators to make informed decisions, prepare better for professional engagements, and justify investments in learning environments. It translates complex design science into actionable guidance, enabling schools to improve student well-being, engagement, and performance through thoughtful space design.
Conclusion
ClassroomReimagined.AI demonstrates what’s possible when deep domain expertise meets scalable technology. DesignEmerging.AI provided 35+ years of human-centered design research and vision. Valere engineered the AI-powered platform and AWS infrastructure that brings it to life.
Together, the partnership created a tool capable of transforming classrooms,and student experiences, across the world, making evidence-based design accessible to any school, regardless of budget or resources.
