Architects4Education – research into the design of schools

SCHOOL RESEARCH 

Architects4education have always been keen that their accumulated knowledge on the design of education premises should be shared with clients and other designers to improve the quality of the school estate.

One of our principles, Dr Chris French, has carried out several research projects into various aspects of school design over the last 15 years and many of the lessons learned are very relevant to the present climate of school capital funding and procurement.

A summary of these lessons was presented to the April 2011 meeting of the RIBA Schools Client Forum:

This presentation summarises a collection of research undertaken by Dr French over a number of years.

The complete research papers are available by clicking on the following links:

ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL PRIMARY SCHOOLS (1973-1993) A DESIGN APPRAISAL - Volume 1 -

An appraisal of various design aspects of new and extended primary schools in Essex built between 1973 and 1993.
The investigation method included a review of primary school design literature and County Council archives, interviews with Officers concerned with the design and operation of primary schools, visits to schools, analysis of user comment by questionnaire, and investigative essays.
The appraisal contains three parts:- part one – a review of primary education since 1973; part two – strategic aspects of primary school design, including, planning, constructional systems, aesthetics, environmental design, engineering services, interior and exterior design;

ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL PRIMARY SCHOOLS (1973-1993) A DESIGN APPRAISAL - Volume 2

Volume 2 contains the third part of the design appraisal – detailed requirements of today’s primary school room by room; plus conclusions promulgating lessons for the future.

Prefabrication in Schools -

Executive summary of a review of recent small scale prefabrication projects at Eastern Region schools.

RIBA Education forum – recessionary trends -

A short PowerPoint presentation summarising the above research.

For more on Architects4Education please see http://architects4education.co.uk/

To read more about Dr Chris French, please click here.

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Architects4Education at BSEC 2011!

So, that was day 1 at BSEC!

A really interesting day at the Building Schools Exhibition and Conference – meeting a really wide variety of different people on the Architects4Education stand.

It was noticeably quieter than last year – with far fewer LEAs present in particular, unsurprisingly given budget cutbacks. There were still a wide range of debates and discussions taking place though, both on the various stands and on the plenary stage in the centre of the hall, in addition to the conference itself.  And we were still kept really busy with a continual flow of people coming to speak to us about what makes Architects4Education special.

Architects4Education - stand 618!

A4E were well represented in an open discussion on the plenary stage – discussing:

How to move on without the support of organisations like BECTA and CABE
How can we make sure that we build new or refurbish educational spaces to high standards and lower cost, without the support of key organisations which may no longer exist?

John Lyall and John Jenner - both of Architects4Education and long standing CABE commissioners were joined by Stefan Jakobek, vice president, head of education, HOK and Rachel Jones, head of education, Steljes to discuss the issues of design quality in this very different climate that we find ourselves in.

John L and John J speaking about where to get advice post becta & post CABE

Lyall and Jenner both brought to the discussion their many years sitting on the various national panels of CABE – the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, highlighting many instances where design quality had been improved (or in some cases protected). Jenner pointed out that the most treasured parts of our built environment came from a time long before CABE – citing St Pauls and St Pancras as examples. He asked “what has gone wrong in the system when it takes a body like CABE to ensure that our public spaces are designed to be the best that they can be? To provide uplifting and inspiring experiences for all users?” He made a strong case that it should be the duty of those procuring the buildings to demand high quality, rather than settle for second best, or worse, for purely commercial reasons. With CABEs future now secure John Lyall was pleased that the years of work – not to mention stacks of research and case studies – would continue to be available to clients and design teams as a valuable resource.

Although CABE is still with us, good design is by no means a surity in the field of education: budgets are facing big squeezes. Stefan said that an organisation such as CABE really should be shouting from the rooftops that design quality must be protected, otherwise the future looks somewhat bleak for future school buildings. He questioned though whether this was possible given that the (now saved) organisation is so closely tied to government, who would not necessarily appreciate such comments!

The changing education landscape was high on most peoples agendas, and most visitors to the A4E stand raised it as an issue. Perhaps Free Schools would be the answer, maybe without architect involvement?
Free School advocate Toby Young  spoke about his experience of trying to get their Free School off the ground in a really well attended event. Having read a lot about his efforts in the press it was really interesting to hear him admit that the process has been really difficult and still faces a big uphill battle.

Many people were simply asking what happens next, and the answer for many people seemed to be ‘wait and see’. With the James Review due out very soon perhaps it will become a little clearer…? But then again, perhaps not…!

It is certainly interesting times, and our schools workload at A4E is still really busy. One wonders when things do become clearer whether it will really take off – we all know many examples of schools which really desperately need to be replaced/refurbished/renovated in some form. Whatever happens we feel positive – Architects4Education is a nimble and flexible consortium of award winning practices and we’re confident that we can act fast and intelligently to tackle whatever challenges the new road ahead throws up!

So, after a great first day, we’re looking forward to day two!

Pop along to see us on stand 618 and let us know what you think the future holds!

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Peer Review – Architects4Education

Last week the three practices of Architects4Education came together for one of our regular peer review sessions, to discuss our recently completed projects, and to talk about what we have currently on the drawing board. This unique collaborative approach allows us to share our experiences of best practice, and to review our designs to take on a ‘second opinion’ – ensuring that our clients get the best possible quality design.

In the following (3 minute) video John Lyall introduces a few video clips from the evening:

We are passionate about schools achieving the best possible quality in school design, and an evening like this allows us to discuss in depth the lessons that we have learned in our wide experience of schools work to date. Architects rarely get this opportunity – the closest one often gets is reading about a new school in the architectural press, or of course visiting a completed school. Both of these methods miss so many of the rich lessons a design team learns during the design process – the decisions made; the views of the teachers, school head and local community; the options not progressed - and the reasons why – and many more.

This video gives just a flavour of the projects discussed – we also talked about several more confidential projects – including a new primary school for Barking in East London, and our work as Client Design Advisor for Northamptonshire Academies – which could not be included online – but which also helped to further our collective knowledge.

The evening was also a great opportunity to get together and share a glass of wine!

——————-      more information:     ————————

• Click here to go to the  Architects4Education web site.
• Click here to open our education brochure (pdf).

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