Education Business chats to RIBA’s Caroline Buckingham about the importance of good design when developing new school buildings and what should be done to tackle the pupil place shortage What makes a good school building? A good school is driven by it’s educational vision and ethos. The role of school buildings, whether new or partly refurbished, can facilitate this vision. In school design there are many common parts, teaching spaces, staff spaces, and large spaces. However one size does not fit all. The school building needs
to function, eliminating challenges such as cramped spaces, lack of natural light, and bad acoustics. What’s more, school buildings should relate to their surrounding community, each offering its unique set of challenges and opportunities. What impact does a good school building have on pupils and staff? Having space and natural light should be an absolute given in a school building. It should be welcoming and uplifting, providing a sense of ownership and pride for pupils and staff.
Cont investminual the sch ent in will hel ool estate p a good to provide mainte level of ensure nance and sc fit for p hools are urpose
Ysgol Bae Baglan school. James Morris
Volume 23.3 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Design & Build
What makes a good school building?
Research has been carried out over the years on the impact of well designed buildings and it’s proved hard to measure, in terms of its impact on educational attainment, low pupil truancy, better staff retention and productivity, or perhaps a combination of all these factors. The research carried out by the RIBA, Better spaces for Learning, helps define and quantify the value of good school design. It is common sense; the environment you are in does have a massive impact on how you feel. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the government’s school building programme? Through Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP), money has been invested in the educational school estate, however due to the lack of investment for years, this has focused on the backlog maintenance required across the whole school estate, alongside pupil place needs. The recent challenges were in the primary schools with a lack of pupil places to meet the demand. This is now being reflected with a shortage in secondary school places. For each Local Authority it can be hard to predict demand especially when needing to plan five years ahead, and any construction process takes a similar amount of time to deliver the expansion needed. The current government programme has been to provide choice for parents with more schools moving towards Academy status, the creation of Free Schools with a definitive education vision and creation of vocationally led schools like the University Technical Colleges (UTC). The challenge is to provide a school estate that is sustainable long term. Short‑term solutions where quality E
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