There have been major shifts in learning goals, curricula and pedagogy over the pas! century; particularly (he last thirty years. In the last decade the area of learning space design has emerged as a key researchfocus, policy priority and strategic direction in both schools and the higher education sector in response to these major shifts, innovative spatial approaches to learning have given rise to 'next generation learning environments. These environments address a nmttipticit andfiuid set cf

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... parameters and considerations. The rate ofchange in the sec/or and in technology, shifts in pedagog)! and conceptions oflearning. and the needs and expectations ofnew generations ofstudents al! give rise to a far more complex process than the design cftraditionol leaming spaces. In the conception ofthese next generation learning environments the relationships between the users. curriculum, pedagogy, technology and spatia! environments (Ire recognized as fluid and evolving and influenced by a diverse array ofstakeholders both within and beyond the campus. Intrinsic to these relationships are strategic directives, objectives and transformative processes acting on macro and micro levels. It is this complexity and interrelatedness that signals the need for universities to not only rethink the typology ofenvironmentsforleaming but also the process/or conceiving. briefing and creating them, It is this need, and the paucity ofresearch in this area, that defines thefocus ofthis paper and an Australian Learning and Teaching Councilfunded research projectfrom which this paper stems. The project is mapping (/ protocolfor the development ofcurriculum-led human-centred spatial design briefsfor next generation learning environments. This paper presents the designertv approach to the research project. the methods/or investigation, brlefdeveloptnent and the 'tools' being developed and tested.