Building schools for now and the future

Caroline Fraser, enabling advisor, talks about the importance of good design in the development of school buildings and grounds.

We are at the start of one of the most ambitious programmes of school building seen in more than a century. A new CABE guide aims to help those involved ensure that any plans place good architecture and design centre stage

As a nation we are embarking on the largest programme of school building since the Victorian era. We are already building the schools of the future across the country. However, without carefully planned collaboration, we run the risk of missing an extraordinary opportunity to improve the education of future generations.

The Department for Ed ucation and Schools (DfES) building schools for the future (BSF) campaign to rebuild and refurbish every secondary school building in England within 15 years will see the biggest government investment in school buildings ever, reaching £5.1 billion in 2005/06. Exemplar designs from the BSF programme demonstrate that design innovation can be achieved and already there are some excellent examples such as the Chafford Hundred Campus in Thurrock and Kingsmead Primary School in Cheshire . However, the challenge now is to get these ideas into the mainstream and create school buildings to serve the needs of pupils now and in the future.

Being involved in school design: a guide for school communities, local authorities, funders, design and construction teams, the new guide to involvement in commissioning, designing, building and using new schools from CABE, can help those involved to meet these challenges.

Children are extremely sophisticated judges of their surroundings and are naturally curious about the spaces that they use and visit. Buildings whose primary users will be children can be designed in a way which enables them to have a variety of experiences such as exploration and interaction, or emotional responses, such as calmness, structure, fun and freedom. That wow factor can also be felt by other users, and the community, through the presence of a building that enhances its surroundings and which people are proud of and enjoy using.

Design has the power to enhance or detract from people's experience of the services they receive in a building. Colours, finishes and textures can be used to stimulate and direct. Clear simple layouts, ease of orientation and way-finding, the clear and welcoming siting of an office or reception desk can all help parents and children feel at ease, feel that they belong.

Most importantly external spaces, play areas and landscapes offer children a real interface with different environments, in an atmosphere of freedom and safety that they maybe cannot experience elsewhere. Equally important are the surrounding areas, such as road crossings, pathways, car parking and entrances which can affect accessibility and security.

Good design does not have to be expensive to deliver, but proper investment in time and planning, along with money, is needed to achieve lasting quality. To create a new facility several factors are vitally important: a clear brief for your architect detailing the needs and objectives of the users of the building, and its funders; and the right choice of architect and design team, and the means of making that choice.

As CABE commissioner Robin Nicholson said, 'designing school buildings and grounds can be a complex process, but everyone, whether they are a pupil, teacher, parent, governor, funder, local authority officer, architect or building contractor, has a unique and important part to play. Without collaboration school building projects run the risk of being mediocre, uninspiring and dull. Carefully planned collaboration is what is needed to ensure that schools can be created that have a real sense of purpose, place and function.'

Every school will have a different list of interested parties and CABE recognises the problems of bringing together different people with diverse skills and perspectives. There is no single approach to success but steps can be taken to generate innovative and effective designs. Being involved in school design calls on existing expertise and case studies highlighting different ways of being involved in school design, placing emphasis on the project team and three key people:

• Project leader
• Education expert
• Design advisor.

The case studies range from schools procured through the traditional route and those through the private finance initiative (PFI). CABE believes that the process of getting involved is worthwhile in terms of the educational benefit of the pupils and the positive experiences and ownership gained by the wider school community.

In Exeter , when it came to developing the brief for St. James Secondary School , Devon county council's local education authority decided to use a tool which assesses the design quality of a building project through a series of questions - the design quality indicator (DQI). The DQI questions were tailored to reflect the needs and aspirations of the school and the process itself encouraged involvement and collaboration between the school community, architects and the bidding teams.

Flic Hart, the head teacher, said: 'the school design team has continued to meet regularly. There is no doubt that the DQI assessment process galvanised us into setting up this team, which has been successful in generating ideas and involving the local community.'

In Hereford , during the bidding stage of Whitecross High School one of the three selected consortia organised a series of events to develop their designs with involvement from the school community. A dedicated website was set up as a forum for community feedback. The architect, Haverstock Associates, also ran workshops attended by staff and pupils, who concluded: 'we want a single entrance all together, the teachers can use it too if they want to; We want to go outside between classes and breathe fresh air; We want the sports pitches to be high profile at the front of the school site.'

The consortium that did the work engaging pupils won the contract to design and manage the new school and these findings were fed into the final design proposals.

In Barking and Dagenham, the Jo Richardson Community School had a very clear educational intention from the outset, largely based around new teaching approaches. The head teacher and deputy were recruited in advance to ensure that all involved fed into the project from the outset. In order for the design to provide for the school's curriculum the team visited schools where these teaching practised were already in operation. The process produced an educated client, through participation and enabled the head teacher and officers of the council to be clear about their objectives.

We have the greatest opportunity in 150 years to influence the way our children and grandchildren are educated. If we build the right schools now, the benefit to future generations will be enormous. But if we get it wrong we will store up major problems for the future. Being involved in school design draws out important lessons for all those involved in school building projects and offers valuable advice. With so many new schools on the drawing board, this is the time for answers.

For free copies of the document, please contact CABE Education, or call us on 020 7960 4891. Alternatively you can download the publication as a pdf.