Education Buildings Journal 3
Use the Evidence: Good school buildings have a signifi cant and positive impact on pupils and
teachers alike. The ‘Better Spaces for Learning’ research carried out by the RIBA helps to defi ne and quantify the value of good school design.
Pupils: Let’s focus on behaviour, engagement, wellbeing and attainment achieving a potential 16% uplift. Teachers: A drive on productivity, health and wellbeing offers a potential 15% uplift.
By using this and your own school design research you can help improve the next generation of learning facilities.
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Good design can make schools cheaper to run. Up to £150 million is currently being spent annually on unnecessary services and maintenance which potentially could have been avoided. If the principles of longer term management and running of the school buildings are considered at the design brief stage, a small initial investment will have a greater long-term impact. For example, simple considerations during the design stage can all play an important part in the wider picture. Orientation of spaces in the building to avoid overheating, or mitigating glare from sunlight, or even specifying materials that may be more expensive initially (however they last 20 years rather than 2 years). In a drive towards making one size fi t all, new school buildings often ended up with over complicated services being fi tted. If the right design solutions had been adopted at an earlier stage, the complex and expensive mechanical and/or electrical equipment that was used could have been avoided.
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Collaboration - Times of austerity can be times of greatest creativity, people pull together producing some of their best innovations. Let’s reject the current fragmented approach and join together to overcome social issues.
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School engagement - Bringing together the educational vision and the design vision. Galvanise the
energy of the youth, give a voice back to the next generation and provide a sense of ownership.
Educational Vision and Design Brief - Whether considering a large, new school or a small expansion to
an existing school, the most critical part in school design (and it should be the very fi rst priority) is having the educational vision set down. When considering the design brief there are many questions that need to be addressed at the outset. These considerations include school function, pupil numbers, pupil travel logistics, small elements of design, and areas of the wider masterplan. The design brief can then translate this vision into spaces and be used as a working document throughout the design stage, construction stage and beyond.
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Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) - Let’s learn lessons from what did and didn’t work.
After a school goes through the process of design and construction the feedback is an essential part which often gets overlooked. Referred to as ‘Post Occupancy Evaluation’ (POE) the gathered evidence should be used to assist and help improve the next generation of learning facilities. Be transparent, encourage discussion, admit mistakes, however don’t let this stifl e creativity or individuality.
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‘Minimum Standards must stop being treated as maximum standards’ - it curtails opportunities
to innovate or respond to local context! The ‘one size fi ts all’ policy and the creation of minimum standards has led to PSPB baselines and modular and component driven solutions. Whilst there is nothing wrong with driving effi ciency it should not be at the expense of quality. The children and staff deserve more than this.
10 Last
but not least,
where has the joy gone in school design? #Reignite the joy!
Caroline
Buckingham will be speaking at Education Estates on 16 October.
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