Community Schools: Designing for sustainability, wellbeing and inclusion 1914124375, 9781914124372

Table of contents :
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgements
About the Authors
Introduction
Chapter 1 A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change
Chapter 2 Designing for the Community
Chapter 3 Designing for Wellbeing
Chapter 4 Designing for Connectivity and Inclusion
Chapter 5 Indicators and Evaluation
Chapter 6 A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion
Bibliography
Endnotes
Index
Image Credits

Citation preview

Designing for sustainability, wellbeing and inclusion

© RIBA Publishing, 2023 Published by RIBA Publishing, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD ISBN 9781914124372 The rights of Helen Taylor and Sharon Wright to be identifed as the Authors of this Work have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 sections 77 and 78. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmited, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owner. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Commissioning Editor: Ginny Mills Assistant Editor: Clare Holloway Production: Jane Rogers Designed and typeset by Unlimited Printed and bound by Short Run Press, Exeter Cover image: Stoneywood Primary School, Aberdeen by Scot Brownrigg. Photography Niall Hastie While every efort has been made to check the accuracy and quality of the information given in this publication, neither the Authors nor the Publisher accept any responsibility for the subsequent use of this information, for any errors or omissions that it may contain, or for any misunderstandings arising from it. www.ribapublishing.com DOI: 10.4324/9781003410478

Contents VI VII VIII

Acknowledgements About the Authors Introduction

1

Chapter 1 A Diferent Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

27

Chapter 2 Designing for the Community

53

Chapter 3 Designing for Wellbeing

81

Chapter 4 Designing for Connectivity and Inclusion

107

Chapter 5 Indicators and Evaluation

133

Chapter 6 A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

155 158 162 164

Bibliography Endnotes Index Image Credits

Community Schools

Acknowledgements We are lucky to work with the most talented, creative and commited community of school design professionals. This book would not be possible without their ongoing collaboration and support. Our particular thanks go to all the contributing organisations that provided such rich and engaging case studies and generously shared their project images. We are delighted to be able to showcase their work in delivering beautifully designed learning spaces that meet current and future challenges. We are especially grateful to the team at RIBA Publishing for commissioning this book and to our editor, Clare Holloway, for guiding us through the process. A special thanks to our colleagues at Scot Brownrigg and the-learning-crowd for their unwavering support and for inspiring us every day with their enthusiasm for giving young people, staf and communities the best possible learning environments. Finally, this book is dedicated to our nearest and dearest for puting up with being neglected while we spent evenings and weekends researching and writing. Thank you Alan, Tim, Sophie and Rufus.

VI

About the Authors

About the Authors Helen Taylor, Director, Scot Brownrigg Helen is a chartered architect and RIBA client advisor, director at international design practice Scot Brownrigg, and fellow of the RIBA. She has worked in education design for more than 20 years – particularly early years, primary, secondary and special schools, further education and technical colleges – and loves engaging young people in the built environment. She has long been passionate about sustainability, inclusion, health and wellbeing and has taken a leading role in a number of collaborative projects with the RIBA, the Department for Education (DfE), schools of architecture and other organisations to drive design standards and communicate the importance of education spaces as critical social infrastructure that can bring communities together. She frequently shares practice research through Scot Brownrigg’s Design Research Unit publication ‘iA’, and other recent publications, including the DfE’s ‘Further Education Sustainable Estates Guidance’. She is currently leading development of the DfE’s Design Code for Schools and Colleges. She is also a proud mum of two amazing children. Dr Sharon Wright, Senior Associate, the-learning-crowd Sharon has spent the past 20 years working with education leaders, architects and contractors to create the best possible learning environments on a wide range of education capital projects nationally and internationally. She has particular expertise in creating the vision and design brief for new projects, and in engaging users in the process to build ownership and ensure their needs are understood. She ofen acts as an internal client to design teams, supporting design development and advising on how to get the best outcomes for future users. With a background in education policy and organisational development, Sharon is a Doctor in Education from King’s College London, with a research interest in the history and policy context of community schools. She is a Fellow of the RSA, a Fellow and UK Executive Commitee Member of the British American Project, an RIBA Afliate Member and on the Board of Bees United, the Brentford Football Club Supporters Trust. Helen and Sharon have worked and collaborated together for many years and were awarded AJ Collaboration of the Year for their previous jointly edited RIBA publication Urban Schools: Designing for High Density.

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Community Schools

Introduction There is no doubt that the place of education, and how we design and build our school environments to meet new challenges, has been under scrutiny over the last decade. If we are to address some of the most pressing national and global issues, we need to beter understand the wider context and think carefully about who and what we are designing for. In this book we explore how the school design brief might be reframed to deliver buildings that beter refect the needs of young people, staf, communities and the environment. In times of change there are opportunities to question the status quo and create momentum to do things beter. The UK’s commitment to reduce its greenhousegas emissions to net zero by 2050 has embedded a sense of urgency and innovation to the education buildings sector. The Covid-19 pandemic started conversations about how we can beter address the health and wellbeing of young people and their families, for example through beter use of outside spaces to support learning and social activities, and it has pushed the place of digital learning to the top of the agenda. Through the pandemic, schools appreciated the value of buildings provided with good acoustics and ventilation, circulation that allowed movement to be easily managed, generous entrances that enabled smooth drop-of and pick-up, and fexible learning space that could be reconfgured to meet the needs of diferent group sizes and curriculum areas. There is new thinking about how design can empower communities and beter connect people with the places they live. The case studies throughout this book refect that sense of purpose and show how real change can be delivered when the challenges are seen as opportunities to embed our new understanding. Schools have always been complex organisations. Their buildings have never simply been about delivering the curriculum and flling young people with knowledge. At their heart is the need to be inclusive, catering for all children as they grow and develop into young adults ready to make a valuable contribution to the world. They are also workplaces, civic assets and hubs for their communities. They are the spaces and places we are all aware of as local residents and that we all engage with as learners and parents. Yet we have not always considered them as critical infrastructure or assets in terms of our capital investment.

VIII

Introduction

Any discussion also needs to acknowledge the tensions that currently exist and that we grapple with on every project. How do we create welcoming yet safe and secure spaces? Schools have a duty of care to their young people and must maintain safeguarding as a core principle, yet they also want to be places that are inviting to all. How much should we consider future-proofng for changing educational trends when many think our models of curriculum delivery, particularly in England, have remained largely unchanged for decades? Puting time and money into creating fexible and adaptable buildings that are only likely to be used one way could be seen as wasteful. How do we ensure resources are targeted at areas that could have a major impact on some of the issues we talk about in this book? The value of outdoor spaces is starting to be recognised and the use of landscaping and biophilic design (design which builds upon the idea that humans have a natural afnity and urge to connect with other living things) is emerging as a game-changer that needs to be properly budgeted for. And fnally, how do we infuence and create demand for policy change around commissioning and funding new building types? If we are to create community schools designed for wellbeing, sustainability and inclusion, we need educators, designers and contractors to show evidence of need and efectiveness if we are ever to change the policy landscape. If we are to meet the new global social, environmental and economic challenges, we need to design diferently, from the design briefs we create to the buildings we deliver, and from the way we operate our schools to how we evaluate their success and impact. It is the right time to take a fresh look at what we want from our physical school environments, building on the learning we have gathered as a sector over the past two decades, bringing our creativity and understanding to meet the new design challenges. There is a danger that the learning we have gathered during the Covid-19 pandemic is lost as new imperatives, including an economic squeeze linked to global instability and urgent environmental challenges, take precedence. However, we would argue that this is exactly the right time to ensure our schools are designed to meet the climate change and energy challenges, to develop resilient young people who are able to fourish not just academically but socially

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Community Schools

and emotionally as well, and to provide spaces and places where families and communities can come together and support each other. There are many examples of where schools are already doing all of this and now is the time to learn from their experience and embed and resource this approach at all levels. This should be the ‘next normal’ for all schools. The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, in reviewing responses to The Big Ask – a survey that received more than 500,000 responses from children and young people across England in 2021 – said: As we recover from the pandemic, this is an urgent moment in the evolution of education in England and we need to seize it. Afer so much scrutiny of schooling and assessment during lockdown, debates swirl about the best way to go next. The risk is that we repeat the mistakes of the past and divide into binary camps – more status quo or faster reform – and miss the moment. To capitalise on children’s new‑found appreciation of schools, we should do both – keep the best of the status quo, and, in the light of The Big Ask, do something radical in our ofer of support to children.1 We think this is a good approach – keep the best of the status quo (evidenced through research, case studies and experience) but bring forward a radical and more coherent view of school delivered through a diferent sort of design brief. This provides an opportunity to challenge our thinking and takes a more holistic approach to what our capital funding can, and should, deliver. Geting the right balance between consistency and commonality versus fexibility and uniqueness is always a challenge, and there are regulations, standards and guidance that must be followed. But creating a briefng process that has in-built dialogue with and between users, looks at local impact, is ambitious about how we might beter manage facilities, and encourages creative solutions to support the learner journey is a worthy aspiration.

X

Introduction

We must be bolder about how we think of our school buildings, the impact they already have on our communities, and how we could be more ambitious, not just in designing education environments, but in understanding how they contribute to a wider planning, investment and values system. Through researching and writing this book, we have gathered more evidence to show that the involvement of pupils, staf, families and communities in the design process positively contributes to enduring, efective design for community, sustainability, wellbeing and inclusion. It also gives users agency and ownership and prepares them to do things diferently in the future, educating and enthusing them so they can engage with more resilient, sustainable ways of living. The architecture and design of a school can actively support healthy lifestyles and promote wellbeing, encourage connections, and be open, welcoming and inclusive. All capital investment should come with a built-in desire to measure success, to understand what can be done beter, and to create a constructive, self-refective culture that encourages and enables users to feed back ‘Are we geting this right?’. Most crucially, it is about creating environments for learning and development that will allow our young people to fourish and be their very best. To do that we have to be bold. We hope the ideas, examples and resources in this book encourage you to be bold and ambitious for your own project.

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Chapter 1 A Diferent Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

Community Schools

In the UK we have seen two things happening over the last decade: a tighter focus on how schools are funded and procured to ensure best use of public money, and a greater divergence between the nations on what sort of school buildings we should be delivering. Devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has led to some signifcant diferences in approach to both curriculum and capital priorities from that in England. However, because of the signifcant capital investment since the mid-2000s, we now have a large number of recently built schools to draw on when we look at what has worked and what could be done beter, and we have highlighted some of these in the case studies. Over the past 20 years we have also looked to international best practice to inform our thinking. We have drawn on a range of international case studies through the book to illustrate good practice and alternative approaches.

The current landscape Since 2005 there have been several centrally managed capital funding programmes in England, from Building Schools for the Future to the Priority Schools Building Programme and the current School Rebuilding Programme. Apart from Building Schools for the Future, the earliest of these programmes, they have largely been driven by the condition of the buildings and, more recently, by the need to embrace modern methods of construction and meet net-zero carbon targets. Whether existing buildings are ft to deliver the curriculum or meet any broader local needs is currently not a criterion for allocation of capital funding. The Department for Education’s (DfE) generic and school-specifc design briefs have largely standardised the approach to the design of new schools, with the aim of delivering consistency in investment and learning environments. However, it is recognised that every school has its own identity. There is still an opportunity for each school to set out its own vision, ethos and curriculum requirements, helping the design team to tailor the spaces to the school’s needs, within the area guidelines set out in Building Bulletin 103 (for primary and secondary schools)1 and Building Bulletin 104 (for special schools and alternative provision). 2 The DfE Building Bulletins were established 75 years ago to assist architects, governing bodies and those involved in creating a design brief for new school buildings, or for school refurbishment or conversion projects, and are referenced around the world. The Bulletins originally covered England and Wales; however, the use and application of them has changed over time due to devolution and political priorities.

2

Figure 1.1 A young designer participating in a workshop run in 2019 by MATT+FIONA, an organisation dedicated to asking young people how their built environment might be improved and empowering them to bring that vision to life.

A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

Although the DfE states that Building Bulletin guidelines do not necessarily have to be met in every case, and should always be applied fexibly in light of the particular circumstances, the reality is that tight funding parameters leave litle room for innovation. Although the DfE is the ultimate client, local authorities, and more recently multi-academy trusts, are a vital client stakeholder, bringing their local context, knowledge, expertise and school-specifc requirements to the design table.

3

Community Schools

In other parts of the UK, although there are similar drivers around value for money and achieving net-zero carbon, there is a less standardised approach. In Scotland, criteria for school funding are underpinned by the needs of the curriculum and the locality. Led by local authorities through their Learning Estates Strategies (see Chapter 5), 3 there is a dual emphasis on building condition and suitability to deliver the Scotish Curriculum for Excellence4 and a wider set of requirements, including sustainability, wellbeing, community engagement, partnership working and economic growth. Throughout this book we have featured a number of recent case studies from Scotland to show how this approach can fex to meet local needs and provide innovative solutions to supporting the learner journey. In Wales, the curriculum is also a key driver for current capital funding streams. It not only looks to develop ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives, but embeds the vision of young people as enterprising and creative, ethical and informed citizens of Wales and the world, and healthy, confdent individuals, ready to lead fulflling lives as valued members of society. The Curriculum for Wales5 creates a learner journey through primary and secondary education. Capital investment focuses on how spaces can support learning alongside meeting other priorities, including how they deliver community beneft. In Northern Ireland, there is a mixed model where ‘major works’ (those in excess of £500,000) must support at least one of the minister’s priorities for major capital investment.6 They include supporting unmet need for educational facilities; addressing serious accommodation inadequacies and substandard accommodation to ensure efective delivery of the curriculum; or afecting agreed rationalisation of schools. The difering approaches within the UK make it more challenging to draw out good practice that can apply across the various political and funding systems. However, all have a focus on the condition of the existing estate, environmental sustainability and supporting curriculum delivery. The difering priorities do create an opportunity for debate on the pros and cons of each approach, including the impact of specifcally seeking wellbeing, identity, social and economic beneft and user engagement (Figure 1.1) in how we design our schools. Perhaps the most interesting question, at a time when public funding is limited and both capital and operational costs are rising, is around what constitutes ‘value for money’ in school capital projects and what role the school, and its community, should have in determining the answer.

4

A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

There is a need to ensure that the way we brief and design new schools takes account of current challenges and considers how capital funding might contribute to innovative, sustainable solutions.

A challenge to the status quo There is a need to ensure that the way we brief and design new schools takes account of current challenges and considers how capital funding might contribute to innovative, sustainable solutions. With this in mind, we have identifed a number of key areas for the new school design brief: •

•

•

•

•

Community: including how our school buildings can maximise their ofer to meet the needs of their locality, promote strong partnership working and encourage greater community cohesion. Wellbeing: considered in the widest sense; this includes geting the basics of comfort, health and safety right, but also looks at how we can design in a way that nurtures and respects users, gives agency and supports wider community development. Connectivity: where every school is embedded within its community, supports a strong sense of place and enables meaningful links that deliver wider benefts. Inclusion: so there is equity and equality of access for all, there are spaces that match the needs of all users and every child has the chance to succeed and fourish. Sustainability: the climate change agenda, and the drive for sustainable buildings, environments and communities, impacts and cannot be separated from the drive for community, wellbeing, connectivity and inclusion. For this reason, we refer to sustainability in each chapter and case study, rather than dedicating a separate chapter.

The following chapters look to draw learning from research, national and international projects and to support development of a new approach framed around our key question: What would the school brief look like if we were designing for community, wellbeing, inclusion and sustainability? Here we set out why we think these areas are key to the design of efective, sustainable school environments. While geting the brief right is key, we endorse a whole-systems approach to school capital projects, considering school environments in operation and how diverse users can get the best from them. We propose indicators, or measures, for success that beter refect this aspirational brief, and we demonstrate the need to embed post-occupancy evaluation systems that measure the right things.

5

Community Schools

Why community schools mater The idea that schools can be more than buildings for education is not new. Research, guidance and some excellent, well-established examples show how facilities can be developed to beneft the wider community. In England, the Local Government Association (LGA) recognised in its 2019 report ‘Building Cohesive Communities: An LGA Guide’ that ‘in many areas, schools are at the heart of their community. For councils and other local stakeholders, they may ofer a way of engaging with harder to reach or more isolated groups and parents whose children are atending local schools.’ 7 While this is true, it should also be acknowledged that some parents will themselves have had a poor experience at school, making it more difcult to engage with them. The Department for Education Northern Ireland’s (DENI) 2014 ‘Community Use of School Premises. A Guidance Toolkit for Schools’ says: Schools not only provide education for their pupils but can also provide opportunities to reach out to everyone residing in the surrounding area, becoming hubs of their local communities. By adopting a strategic approach and opening their premises for community use, schools can enable greater access to sporting activities, youth services, adult learning, cultural events, and other community based activities by the children and wider community they serve. Access to such services and activities helps contribute to personal, health, economic and community development.8 DENI sees a range of potential benefts from this approach, including raising achievement, greater parental involvement and partnership working, healthier and fter communities and less vandalism. Underpinning this, Northern Ireland has legislation (Article 140 of the Education (NI) Order 1989) that gives schools the powers to make their facilities available for use by members of the community served by the school and has sought to promote engagement between schools and communities through programmes such as the Extended Schools and Full Service programmes.

6

A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

Department for Education Northern Ireland: Toolkit approach Many schools have already experienced signifcant benefts as a result of partnerships based around sharing their facilities, which can include educational, economic and broader community benefts that fow from such partnerships. The potential benefts that can be achieved include, but are not limited to, the following: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

improved learning and achievement improved access to specialist support services a more positive atitude to learning partnership working across statutory and voluntary bodies greater parental involvement in children’s learning and development access to parenting programmes opportunities for adult education and family learning improved access to sports, arts and other agreed facilities stronger social networks between schools and their communities healthier and fter communities less vandalism within the community and, in particular, directed at the school potential for reduction in crime rates and antisocial behaviour within the community more positive perceptions of schools and their communities because [communities] are seen to be taking more pride in their schools.9

The Public Policy Institute for Wales’s 2016 report ‘Increasing the Use of School Facilities’10 cautions that community school initiatives should not be seen as quick fxes for low levels of student atainment, as school improvement strategies and curriculum-related interventions are likely to be much more efective in this respect. However, the report goes on to say that there is no evidence that community school initiatives distract leaders from the business of school improvement, and there is some evidence to suggest they can provide useful support to those eforts. In the United States, federal legislation was passed in the 1970s which funded the national development of community schools and made way for state governments to legislate the creation of community schools. President Biden, in his frst budget (May 2021), proposed a major increase in funding for supporting and expanding the Department of Education’s Full-Service Community Schools Program.11 The budget, which had previously been $30 million, would rise to $443 million. The

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Community Schools

Full-Service Community Schools Program provides grants to help schools address factors outside of schools that afect learning, such as nutrition and physical activity, health and dental care, mentoring and youth development, adult education, and family fnancial and mental health. It looks to improve academic outcomes by addressing conditions in the school’s surrounding community, which are caused, primarily, by poverty. Jef Bryant, writing in The Progressive Magazine in 2021, points to several studies that show the benefts of this approach. They include a 2017 study by the Learning Policy Institute and the National Education Policy Center that found ‘well-implemented community schools lead to improvement in student and school outcomes and contribute to meeting the educational needs of low-achieving students in high-poverty schools’.12 The study identifed four common features of the approach: integrated services, family and community engagement, expanded learning time and collaborative leadership. Another study, published in 2020 by the research organisation RAND, examined results of schools using the Community Schools approach in New York City, where the programme was introduced in 2014. The researchers found that, afer fve years, schools using this approach showed higher rates of atendance, graduation and maths achievement, as well as fewer in-grade retentions, dropouts and disciplinary actions. According to the Center for American Progress, every $1 invested in a Community Schools Program in New York City delivers an additional $12 to $15 in social value – a measure not only of revenues generated and costs avoided, but also of ‘qualitative impact’. In 2021, Dr Jos Boys, Course Director of the Learning Environments MSc at the Bartlet Real Estate Institute at UCL, and Anna Jefery, of Architecture Initiative, collaborated through a knowledge-exchange grant to publish ‘Educating the City: Urban schools as social infrastructure’ (Figure 1.2). They consulted with a wide range of professionals with the aim of beter understanding the constraints and opportunities for urban, mixed-use schools and the capacity of these to ofer greater social and community value – that is, to become vital components in local social infrastructure. The authors were particularly keen to identify how schools can be leveraged as part of the network of social infrastructure across cities, and the benefts this brings, identifed by organisations like UNESCO, not just for children, but for adults and for lifelong learning. In their foreword, the authors identifed a shortlist of functions that schools provide over and above education: ‘Family support, social welfare, mental health, wellbeing support and disseminators of information (i.e. public health)’.13

8

Figure 1.2 Cover of ‘Educating the City: Urban schools as social infrastructure’, published February 2021. Authors: Dr Jos Boys and Anna Jefery. Funded through UCL Innovation and Enterprise Knowledge Exchange.

A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

There were many examples during the Covid-19 pandemic that reinforced the need for the additional support and resources that many schools provide, including the Big Bocs Bwyd initiative highlighted in Chapter 2. Boys and Jefery point out that many schools rely on community use letings to balance their books, but the spaces are not necessarily designed with this in mind, and it does not make them community schools – it does not enable them to broaden their local impact or engagement. And ‘community’ is, of course, a huge generalisation. Living nearby or in the same place does not make your needs, atitudes or life situations the same but many people would beneft from their local school being made available as a ‘civic hub’. And this simple idea requires a systems-change approach – it requires political, social and economic commitment at many levels. Unlocking the potential of urban schools In ‘Educating the City: Urban schools as social infrastructure’, Boys and Jefery propose a fve-point framework for unlocking the potential of urban schools: • • • • •

Broadening how we value schools: include community value in policy and planning processes. Educational planning and facilities are for the long term: so take a long-term approach to value-capture for this generation and the next. Join up the thinking: generate a richer debate on school functions, beyond the operational and technical challenges. Enable schools to deliver community support: through knowledge sharing – to support ‘levelling up’. Design-in community potential from the beginning: fexibility, adaptability and hours of use.14

In Chapter 2 we look in more detail at how our school buildings and grounds can embed the benefts identifed by the research and maximise their ofer and value to meet the needs of their locality, promote strong partnership working and encourage greater community cohesion.

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Figure 1.3 Pupils taking part in a school design workshop.

10

A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

Why wellbeing maters In September 2021, the Children’s Commissioner published a report on The Big Ask, a survey that received more than half a million responses from school children in England. The report found consistency across the responses, in that children want what we all want: ‘a good home life, a good education, a job, enough money, friends, to feel well, to be treated fairly and to look afer the environment. In short – to do well and create a beter world.’15 The report evidenced that children are civic-minded, social and outward-looking. They want to be able to do things together in their local communities, they want to be safe and to be treated with fairness and they want to be part of an engaged community. Not every child has a positive experience. The survey found that a minority, particularly those who were vulnerable, said the world could be frightening and that they were worried about gangs, violence and bullying.  As The Big Ask identifes, pupil wellbeing is increasingly a priority for schools. We advocate for a briefng process that enables young people to contribute in positive, constructive ways based on our own experience of running pupil engagement workshops on school capital projects. Asking students ‘What is it like to be a young person living here?’ has helped to deepen our understanding of the issues and brought insights such as: School 1: We’re proud of where we live – it’s beautiful and historic – but we’d like to see more age-appropriate activities which cater for our interests and allow us to do things with our friends and families. Our school should be connected to and enhance our community. School 2: Being scared of going out late; having to go straight home to change your uniform because people do not like the school you go to; people in the other boroughs are scared of you because you’re from here; a lot of negative media atention; making sure you do not get yourself in an area you do not live in; not going out in case you get shot or stabbed; stereotyping; prejudice (some people do stupid things and we all get blamed); fghting temptation (smoking weed, gangs, thef); peer pressure; police harassment. Our school is the place we feel safe and can relax. School 3: Usually people view young teenagers as ‘scallies or hoodies’ just because of the way we talk and because of the way some people behave, which is not the way it is, only a couple of people act that way but just because of that we are all labelled incorrectly. It is not right that we are stereotyped because of the

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actions of others. We would like to be heard not judged because we have our own opinions too. Our school should bring people together to create beter relationships in our community. Puting young people, their families and professionals at the core of the briefng process (Figures 1.3 and 1.4) helps us to design for wellbeing by identifying issues that are important to them, co-designing solutions, and beter understanding what is and is not working. In Scotland, Geting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC)16 has been tested and developed since 2006 and is central to all government policies which support children, young people and their families. It is based on children’s rights, with principles that refect the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and is embedded in government policy, being part of all conversations around education, including how capital funding can support the approach. It includes wellbeing indicators against which to measure success. Scotland: The Geting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach GIRFEC as a strengths-based approach seeks to realise children’s rights on a day-to-day basis and is therefore underpinned by key values and principles: • • • • • • •

placing the child or young person and their family at the heart, and promoting choice, with full participation in decisions that afect them working together with families to enable a rights-respecting, strengthsbased, inclusive approach understanding wellbeing as being about all areas of life, including family, community and society valuing diference and ensuring everyone is treated fairly considering and addressing inequalities providing support for children, young people and families when they need it, until things get beter, to help them to reach their full potential everyone working together in local areas and across Scotland to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Based on these principles, GIRFEC is about enhancing the wellbeing of all children and young people, as well as building a fexible scafold of support: where it is needed, for as long as it is needed.17

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A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

As we develop our understanding of what wellbeing means and why it maters, our ambition to design spaces that enable new ways of working and emerging approaches that support beter physical, mental and emotional health should grow. In Chapter 3, we explore how the school design brief might beter engage with the wellbeing of children, staf, families and the wider community.

Figure 1.4 Note from a secondary school pupil who atended a school design workshop.

Why inclusion maters A school’s link to its wider place is deeply connected to a school’s inclusivity. The idea that schools should be outward looking – connecting young people to their locality and opportunities for the future, and working in partnership with others – is enhanced by school architecture that is welcoming, inviting and accessible to all. In designing schools, we have a tendency to understand issues of inclusion in terms of children and young people with particular social, emotional and physical needs. This is an important aspect of the brief, not least because of numbers. Morgan Sindall in its June 2020 ‘Building Beter Futures Report’18 identifed that 15% of the pupil population, around 1.3 million school-age students in England, have been formally assessed as having special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The report identifes that future-proofng and equipping our specialist SEND school estate to enable this growing cohort of young people to thrive,

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Community Schools

develop and fulfl their potential is a complex challenge. The challenge may be greater for mainstream schools where many children with SEND are being educated and deserve the same access to opportunities and facilities as their peers. We need to think of inclusion in the widest sense if we are to promote equity and equality, and variety and choice, for every child in order that they have a chance to fourish and be the best they can be. While schools cannot overcome all inequalities in a locality, if they know where the defciencies are they can at least look to contribute to the solutions. A 2020 survey by the Ramblers19 found that only 57% of adults questioned said that they lived within fve-minutes’ walk of green space, be it a local park, nearby feld or canal path. That fgure fell to just 39% for people from a black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) background and 46% for those with a household income of under £15,000 (compared to 63% of those with a household income over £35,000 and 70% over £70,000). Every community has a school in it or nearby, and every school will have outside space that could be made accessible to the communities who would beneft most from being able to use it. The Local Government Association’s report ‘Building Cohesive Communities’ (2019)20 identifes that schools play a hugely important role in promoting cohesion and providing opportunities for children to mix with those from diferent backgrounds, and in promoting tolerance, respect for diferent values and understanding diferent faiths and British values. Education environments need to not only refect and respond to the locality within which they are situated, but reinforce the values, ethos and vision of the institutions they house. The brief needs to fully refect the aspirations of each school and provide an opportunity to shape the building and spaces in a way that supports young people’s wider understanding of and relationship with society. Whether it is the National Curriculum in England, the Northern Ireland Curriculum, the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland or the Curriculum for Wales, all children will need access to some elements of spiritual, health and pastoral teaching and support. These aspects need to have the same weight as other parts of the curriculum when developing the design brief, if we are to provide truly inclusive environments. When we have asked young people what skills and experiences they need to get the best from the future, they have highlighted a range of issues (see Table 1.1).

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We need to think of inclusion in the widest sense if we are to promote equity and equality, and variety and choice, for every child.

A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

Table 1.1 The skills and learning experiences young people need to get the best from the future.

What types of skills and learning experiences do you need to get the best from your future? Ambitious

We want a broad range of learning experiences – both inside and outside school – to get the knowledge, skills and personal development which will help us succeed in life. We need help exploring the possibilities.

Interpersonal

Developing good people skills and the ability to communicate with others.

Creative

Allowing us to generate and test ideas.

Active

Allowing us opportunities to experience a range of learning styles and approaches which challenge us and enable us to make decisions.

Practical

Giving us hands-on experience and allowing us to test our knowledge.

Varied

Including learning inside the classroom but outside in the school grounds as well. This variety keeps learning interesting and engaging and allows us to try new things.

Wide-ranging

Giving us academic and life skills.

If we are to fully prepare young people for their future and support their ambitions, we need to provide spaces that allow all of them to gain the wide range of opportunities and experiences they aspire to. In Chapter 4 we explore what a school design brief that creates an inclusive environment for all users might look like, and how it might promote equality so that every child has a chance to succeed and fourish.

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Community Schools

Why sustainability maters The concept of sustainability in internal and external physical environments for education has long meant durability, resilience, fexibility and adaptability. While this principle is evident in the Victorian school buildings we still use, it has perhaps been lost at times due to various procurement constraints or political drivers. Primary and secondary education spaces are still recognisable but the needs of the curriculum, and particularly the needs of the population, have changed signifcantly. Health and wellbeing are related to sustainability in a number of ways, including in terms of the internal environment and environmental performance of a building: air quality and temperature; tactility, safety and potential toxicity of materials (in manufacture, transport or in use); water supplies (whether clean water for drinking or safely stored heated water for other uses); smells, colours, etc. (schools are sensory environments). Young children and those with SEND are particularly vulnerable to being negatively afected by their environments, but teachers, and other adults, can also have their health and wellbeing afected. Space standards, layouts and access to the external environment all proved to be critical for providing a safe and healthy environment during the Covid-19 pandemic and continue to be critical to creating an environment to enable gathering and support safeguarding and appropriate behaviour. We all had our mental health and wellbeing impacted by the constraints on movement and socialising inside buildings during the pandemic. For children – developing human beings – it has been particularly challenging and we are likely to see the impacts of our division from each other last for a very long time. This is all evidence that design decisions really mater. Geting it wrong means that either the facility, or use, needs to change – money, time, energy, materials, and therefore carbon – are all wasted in fxing the problem. Sustainability needs a ‘long life, loose ft’ approach, allowing for change. Connectivity to, and the value and quality of, the external environment has also come to the fore in a number of ways. Research evidence has emerged of the psychological health and wellbeing beneft of visual and physical access to green spaces, the positive impact of plants and biodiversity on air quality and air temperature, the beneft of planting immediately outside buildings on reducing overheating, and the negative impact of poor air quality and noise on learning. Outdoor learning has been tested and expanded in numerous ways and schools do not want to lose the learning and development opportunities this has created. Anxiety about climate change is having a huge impact on the mental health of young people. Schools want to have a more diverse external environment for

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A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

We need resilient, adaptable designs that make the best use of limited resources and can work for the widest range of needs

teaching and students are calling for environmental education and climate change to be embedded in the curriculum across the board. The drive towards net-zero carbon and reducing reliance on fossil fuels is not only important for the big picture of climate change and depleting resources, but also for the day-to-day cost-efective running of schools. Schools want to be focusing their limited resources on education, rather than on managing, heating or cooling their environments, so that the temperature is not a distraction from, or barrier to, teaching or learning or any activity. Inclusion is also directly related to sustainability. In terms of the climate emergency, if we accept that we need to be working together towards mitigation and adaptation then we need the resources and input of everyone. We cannot exclude – either accidently or deliberately. We need resilient, adaptable designs that make the best use of limited resources and can work for the widest range of needs, without the need for change. Like health and safety, inclusion needs to be on the agenda in every stage and context. Inclusion needs to be practised, and all the protected characteristics outlined in the UK’s Equality Act 201021 need to be considered, in terms of: • • • •

stakeholder engagement and participation during the design process integrating best practice in terms of technical standards (and making sure it’s both designed-in and delivered on-site) using the handover process to ensure users understand and can apply the design intent and operational requirements following up with post-occupancy evaluations – looking at both building performance and user feedback in parallel.

Schools are typically public buildings and services, and certainly have a civic function, which gives them a duty to anticipate and advance equality – and to bring people together. The well-established United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)22 have 17 headings that include health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion, and communities – recognising that these elements are critical to the overall ambition of a sustainable, habitable planet. The UN’s SDG website states that ‘ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests’. 23

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Community Schools

Regionally, the means and criteria for delivering these goals are set out in diferent ways. In England, the DfE ‘Further Education Sustainable Estates Guidance’24 provides advice for further education (FE) providers on how to defne a sustainable FE estate and deliver sustainable capital investment, but there are lessons for all stages of education. The guidance sets out DfE defnitions of a sustainable estate from a social, economic and fnancial perspective. This includes drivers that should be considered in developing a sustainable estates strategy, the DfE’s defnition of the 10 key climate change mitigations and adaptations to be used in designing buildings, and 10 key design principles for a sustainable estate. It captures the DfE’s overarching principles and expectations for design, construction and operation of all education buildings and grounds, embedded in their latest output specifcation. DfE key drivers for a sustainable education estate • • • •

•

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Put the long-term needs of the users (all students, staf and building users) at the centre of all decisions. Future-proof against the risks of climate change as defned by UK adaptation policy, i.e. higher temperatures and prolonged rainfall. Create a healthy and productive whole-site seting, in response to the UK’s 25-year Environmental Plan, including biodiversity net gain. Prioritise the application of low-energy, fossil-fuel-free buildings which respond to climate resilience and achieve net-zero carbon in operation at handover. Calculate and report on Embodied Carbon in Construction, at key stages as defned by the standards within ‘Net Zero Carbon Buildings: A Framework Defnition’, UK Green Buildings Council (UK GBC), using EN 15978. 25

Figure 1.5a DfE Climate Change Framework.

A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

It also includes the DfE’s Climate Change Framework (Figure 1.5) that identifes how climate change mitigation and adaptation should be applied to the design and operation of education institutions. These principles for climate change mitigation and adaptation are expanded further in the document, which states: ‘These 10 points should be used to generate schemes and sustainable estates that are responsive to the impact of climate change and ofer robust, resilient design solutions for the future.’26

1

7

Reduce overheating risk by increasing ventilation efectiveness

3

Optimise energy efciency

8

Green infrastructure and biodiversity

4

Deliver fossil fuel-free heat

9

Reduce food risk by managing surface water runof

5

Generate on-site renewable energy

10

Responsive to future development

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

6

Consider the site-wide microclimate

2

Reduce energy demand

CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION

Improve space efciency and estate rationalisation

Figure 1.5b DfE Climate Change Framework: 10 key climate change mitigations and adaptations to be used in designing environments and buildings for education.

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The overarching design principles that are measured and evaluated through the DfE’s own post-occupancy evaluation process are all principles that support the sustainability and efectiveness of the site as a whole (see Table 1.2). Principle number

Design principle

Sustainable estate principle

1

Context

Considering the physical and social seting

2

Identity

Creating a sense of place

3

Natural environment

Making the most of the site

4

Movement and site connectivity

Site connectivity and access

5

Functionality

How the estate meets the needs of the college

6

Healthy and safe environments

Safe and secure

7

Inclusion

Equity and access

8

Standardised approach

Coordinated and capable of replication

9

Future-proofng

An agile estate

10

Whole life

Reuse, repurposing, material robustness

The DfE recognises the vital importance of the school and its community in sustainability, stating, ‘At the foundation of the sustainable estate are the learners, the staf and the organisations who use, manage and maintain the estates, and the communities and the partnerships that they serve.’27

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Table 1.2 The DfE’s 10 key design principles, expanded for the sustainable estate guidance.

A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

We need a new common understanding of sustainability that includes wellbeing and inclusion, to deliver schools that can meet the needs of their community now and into the future.

Table 1.3 Responses from students to the question ‘What and where do you learn?’

We need a new common understanding of sustainability that includes wellbeing and inclusion, to deliver schools that can meet the needs of their community now and into the future. While this may be seen as the ‘social’ angle of sustainability, it is fundamentally connected to the economic and environmental impact and value of a school.

Why connectivity and a sense of place mater Learning does not just take place in schools, and young people understand this. When we asked student workshops What and where do you learn?, responses have been wide-ranging (see Table 1.3). At school we learn …

In our community we learn…

At home we learn…

Responsibility

Team-working and cooperation – sports clubs

Digital skills – our technology is beter and more reliable at home than it is at school!

Problem-solving

First aid – Scouts

Hobbies like drawing and gaming

Confdence

Social skills and the ability to meet new people – youth clubs/ other clubs

Refecting, including writing in a diary

Team-working and respect

Creativity – drama club, youth club

Taking care of pets

Subject-specifc skills

Faith – mosque

Managing my own learning – homework, revision, new skills

Health and wellbeing (swimming, CPR, safety)

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The relationship between school, home and community needs to be understood and supported through the briefng and design process. The Children’s Commissioner’s The Big Ask survey in England found that young respondents: have thought hard about their neighbourhoods, about the built environment, and shared detailed hopes for regeneration. Their answers created images of open spaces, parks, places to swim, games to play, and new, afordable, communal experiences: fun… It is also crucial that outdoor space and indoor spaces are made available so that sports clubs, charities, youth and faith groups can fourish.28 If we accept that learning happens everywhere in a place, and schools can also be a facility for a wide range of enrichment activities for their communities, it becomes vital to understand local connections and relationships to maximise the potential value of any capital spend. The Design Council’s response to the Building Beter, Building Beautiful Commission call for evidence in June 2019 said: Our homes do not sit in isolation, but within the landscape and the environment around them. They become a link to the character, culture and history of a place, to the future that they will be part of, and the legacy they will leave behind. In designing and planning the homes we build we must therefore ensure they create a positive impact, both on their seting, and for new and existing residents. To do this the focus must be on place‑making not simply housebuilding – taking a wider approach that looks at the needs of a whole area, connecting diferent issues that have an impact on a place, together with the needs of the people who live there.29 If we were to take ‘homes’ and replace it with ‘schools’ in this statement, it would be equally true. Taking a ‘place-based’ approach to development, with education as a key driver for change, creates a framework within which to develop a language for the community school and its design. This means understanding how and where that specifc community learns, and mapping the relationships. This is the case in Scotland where the Scotish Government and the Convention of Scotish Local Authorities (COSLA) adopted the Place Principle30 to help overcome organisational and sectoral boundaries and establish a clear vision for collaboration around place. The Place Principle promotes the need to take a more collaborative approach to each individual place’s services and assets in order to achieve beter outcomes for the people and communities in that location.

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A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

The Place Principle: adopted by the Scotish Government and the Convention of Scotish Local Authorities in April 2019 •

•

Place is where people, location and resources combine to create a sense of identity and purpose, and is at the heart of addressing the needs and realising the full potential of communities. Places are shaped by the way resources, services and assets are directed and used by the people who live in and invest in them. A more joined-up, collaborative and participative approach to services, land and buildings, across all sectors within a place, enables beter outcomes for everyone and increased opportunities for people and communities to shape their own lives.

The principle requests that: •

all those responsible for providing services and looking afer assets in a place need to work and plan together, and with local communities, to improve the lives of people, support inclusive and sustainable economic growth and create more successful places.

We commit to taking: •

a collaborative, place-based approach with a shared purpose to support a clear way forward for all services, assets and investments which will maximise the impact of their combined resources. 31

As part of this approach, the Place Principle is infuential in the design and funding for new school projects with the Scotish Government’s Learning Estate Strategy. The Scotish Government’s approach is that ‘by placing the whole learning estate at the heart of meeting the needs of Scotland’s communities, learners and businesses, and adopting a more integrated approach, we will improve the outcomes for all of our learners and enable sustainable and inclusive economic growth’. 32 In Chapter 4 we set out the importance of briefng for connectivity and a sense of place, how we can ensure that all spaces are designed fexibly so they can deliver the curriculum and other locally important services, and how we can ensure meaningful links between the school and the location within which it sits.

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Why we should measure success diferently If we are to have a more joined-up and ambitious brief for school buildings, it must be underpinned by integrated and sophisticated ways of measuring whether the right outcomes are being achieved. Understanding who gets to set the success criteria is an interesting issue. For example, when we have asked parents what they want for their children from the school experience, they have shared the following priorities: • • • • • •

Transition from primary to secondary school is important – we want it to be seen as a long process, with engagement starting early. There should be more learning links between home and school – pupils know they learn everywhere, so we need to consistently reinforce the opportunities. We like workshops and events that focus on how we can support our child’s learning. We want two-way communications that allow us to have a voice and feed back to the school. We want to celebrate our child’s achievements – not just the academic ones. We want to use our skills to support the school, but it can be difcult for us to know how to do this.

What if we had design requirements that encouraged us to deliver and measure how well spaces support parental needs and expectations? By seting clear outcomes and success measures at the start of the design process, and embedding them in the brief, there is a benchmark for project success. Some aspects of our buildings are more easily quantifed, measured and monitored, such as environmental indicators, and as an industry we are experienced in doing this. Other elements are less easily defned or harder to quantify and, as a result, there is less good practice to draw on. In Chapter 5 we use case studies and examples to suggest a new set of evaluation indicators to underpin the school design process and look at how we might beter approach or structure the creation of the brief to ensure a robust and useful evaluation process can be undertaken once the resulting environment is in use. We understand that the concepts of, and measures for, inclusion, community, wellbeing and connectivity overlap and contribute to each other. In the same way, the thread of sustainability runs through every element of our thinking. While

24

If we are to have a more joined‑up and ambitious brief for school buildings, it must be underpinned by integrated and sophisticated ways of measuring whether the right outcomes are being achieved.

A Different Approach to School Design – The Case for Change

By seting clear outcomes and success measures at the start of the design process, there is a benchmark for project success.

there are a number of case studies at the end of each chapter they are not narrowly connected to that theme and should be read as prompts and ideas for themes from across the book. The case studies are used throughout the book to demonstrate examples of innovation and to point to where educational design has addressed one or more of the issues discussed. We hope readers will fnd new and interesting ideas in all the case studies that their contributors have kindly provided. We do not set out to develop a blueprint brief, or to create standardised design templates, rather we draw out learning, share examples and explore the issues in the hope that this will contribute to further discussion by design teams and schools as part of their projects.

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Chapter 2 Designing for the Community

Community Schools

In England, successive governments have taken difering views on whether to support schools in creating community-focused facilities. It was not until the Labour Government of 1997 that there was a policy and associated funding for schools ofering a menu of extended services to their communities. This was supported by the requirement of the Building Schools for the Future programme that every newly funded school should be a community building. That ended with a change of government in 2010 and the current procurement model in England does not provide any additional area or capital funding for community use. Yet there are tangible benefts in schools providing facilities and services for their communities and they have a long history of doing so successfully, regardless of government support. According to the 2016 Child Poverty Action Group report, ‘Unfnished Business: Where Next for Extended Schools?’,1 extended school services are now the norm, with only 2% of schools surveyed saying they did not ofer any kind of provision. Yet there are challenges for schools wishing to use their existing buildings and grounds to provide for their communities. Nearly half of schools quoted lack of space/facilities as a barrier (47%) – among primary schools this fgure was 53%, in contrast to only 13% of secondary schools. If schools see the beneft of opening up their buildings, then it is important that the brief and design fully explore the range of potential uses and users, and integrate this wider use creatively to get the very best from the available spaces and facilities. We need to have a clear understanding of who we are designing for and what sorts of spaces, places and services individual communities require. In this chapter we look at what we mean by community (or extended) schools, draw on good practice examples, and explore the opportunities and challenges of designing buildings for more than simply delivering the curriculum.

Defning community schools There has never been an agreed defnition of what a ‘community school’ is or what facilities it should provide, and this is a challenge when thinking about how best to create spaces that accommodate wider use. However, there are examples where the principle of designing schools for community users have been tested and embedded, and these provide lessons for how we might beter brief and design for the future.

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Designing for the Community

It is critical to have a clear vision and ethos of what diference the project needs to achieve.

A review of the approaches to ‘community schools’ suggests there are two common models that have difering design implications. They are: •

The school as part of a community hub: School buildings are enhanced, sometimes with additional area, and act as a focus for joined-up approaches to delivering a range of services and facilities that support community cohesion, health and wellbeing, and enrichment. While there are some examples in England, this ‘community campus’ approach is more common in Scotland, as demonstrated by our case study of Merkinch Primary School and Family Centre in Inverness (see Case Study 3 in this chapter), and elsewhere in the world, as in our case study of Melopee Multifunctional School Building in Ghent, Belgium (see Case Study 2).

•

The school building as a community resource: This is the model most schools currently operate in England, where existing educational facilities are open for wider use, normally outside school hours. At Three Rivers Academy (see Case Study 1), indoor and outdoor sports and a range of performing arts and community spaces have been carefully zoned to ensure they can be easily managed for leting and events.

Where the frst model brings coherence and added value but means additional capital and joined-up operational funding, the second can fll gaps in existing provision and ofer spaces that would not otherwise be available to the community.

Designing community schools Given that the majority of schools do provide some facilities and resources for their communities, there are key considerations for the brief and design which are explored below. The importance of vision and ethos Whether designing a community hub or a community resource, it is critical to have a clear vision and ethos of what diference the project needs to achieve. For example, Melopee Multifunctional School Building, Ghent, demonstrates the power of a building that has been designed specifcally as a community school from the earliest stages. In Cambridgeshire in the 1920s, the community school pioneer Henry Morris had a clear vision for what he wanted his Village Colleges (Figures 2.1 and 2.2) to achieve and as a result his approach has lasted for nearly a century. In his 1924

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‘Memorandum’, he wrote that ‘there would be no “leaving school”! – the child would enter at three and leave the college only at extreme old age’. 2 His concept of the school and the community was that they are intertwined and mutually supportive, providing facilities for all that would prevent the rural population drif to towns and cities. Morris saw the beneft of inspirational design and asked infuential architects Walter Gropius and Maxwell Fry to design Impington Village College, which opened in 1939. The college, which is now a listed building, sought to have an equal split of space between the community and school, so promoting equality of use for pupils and the wider community. Morris understood that it was not simply enough to aspire to new models of community education and access to learning, but that the school buildings themselves needed to have the physical capacity to deliver and so he invested heavily in his physical environments. They were intended to be beacons in their communities, reinforcing, through beautiful design, that education was important. Henry Morris’s original vision of providing for the communities in Cambridgeshire continues today with Cambourne Village College, an academy of the Cam Academy Trust, opened in September 2013 for 1,200 pupils at the heart of one of the fastest-growing communities in the UK. From the outset, the ‘Village College’ remit has been central to the ethos of the Cam Academy Trust. The college supports an active adult education programme, and more than 30 community groups and organisations make use of the college’s facilities. As a result, the college won a Silver Award in the ‘Making a Diference’ category of the Pearson School of the Year celebrations in 2018. 3

30

Figure 2.1 (lef) Linton Village College, Cambridgeshire, by Samuel Urwin Architect. The adult lecture room, 1937. Figure 2.2 (right) Village College, Botisham, Cambridgeshire, by Samuel Urwin Architect. The library, 1937.

Figure 2.3 Titus Salt School, Bradford, by Anshen + Allen (now Stantec), 2008. The architects worked closely with the school, UNESCO and community stakeholders throughout the design stages. The result is a school that is in harmony with its seting and engages with its community.

In 2004, the UK Government launched the Building Schools for the Future (BSF)4 programme to rebuild or refurbish the whole secondary school estate over a 15-year period. Under BSF, schools were required to consider how they might deliver access to school facilities by the wider community, including facilities such as ICT and library areas, drama and performance spaces, art, design and technology facilities, sports areas and any other areas identifed at local level, and make provision of fexible multiuse areas. BSF embedded a culture of assuming community use as the norm, right from the start of the project.

BSF embedded a culture of assuming community use as the norm, right from the start of the project.

As an example, Titus Salt School (Figure 2.3) was rebuilt in 2008 as one of the early Building Schools for the Future projects and the school wanted the design to maximise the relationship with the local community. Anshen + Allen (now Stantec) designed the outside dining areas and courtyard gardens to allow the grounds to be used extensively, while internal breakout spaces between classrooms brought an informality to the teaching wings. Other aspects of the design focused on opening the school to wider community use. The entire east end of the school, which houses sports and performance facilities, can operate independently during the evening and at weekends. Creating a school with the explicit vision of it being a community building would suggest that the idea is ‘locked in’ and maintained as a core part of the vision, ethos and operation of the building.

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Community Schools

Local leadership Despite the fact that England has struggled to develop an agreed approach to community schools, some innovative councils, like the London Borough of Southwark, are commited to the vision of schools as community buildings. Southwark’s School Design Guidelines (2018) say: ‘A school is a civic building. Its siting and orientation should allow it to have architectural presence and make a positive contribution to the adjacent public realm. Schools can provide a catalyst for future development and be core to the community.’ 5

Schools can provide a catalyst for future development and be core to the community.

Southwark has schools that provide extra support to vulnerable families, including drop-in facilities, afer-school clubs, the provision of meals, social welfare and mental health support. Their design guidance acknowledges that schools play a valuable role in dealing with inequalities in our communities, and supporting families, and that understanding the school’s role in the community is an important part of the briefng process. The design guide says: This will infuence designs that will enable some parts of a school to be used outside of normal school hours. The site should permit straightforward zoning of areas in terms of security and power consumption, which means schools could be made more publicly accessible and give the building both a civic function and a civic presence. 6

Figure 2.4 Keyworth Primary School, Southwark, London, by Hawkins\Brown, 2017. Drumming in the school hall.

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Designing for the Community

The Southwark approach is clearly visible in their recent investments, with spaces for education at the centre of their regeneration approach and delivering highquality buildings that their communities can be proud of and beneft from. Keyworth Primary School (Figure 2.4) is an example where the school’s capacity was doubled in size and the location of the new building gave the school a street presence, as well as opening up external spaces across the school. The hall and atrium are now an accessible asset to the local community, providing an aferschool club for surrounding schools. This commitment to addressing identifed local need must be embedded at the briefng stage, to explore how the building design can support and enable families. Careful zoning for out-of-hours use (ensuring accessibility for users) and providing a welcoming civic presence are fundamental requirements. Linking to the curriculum In Wales, the ‘Big Bocs Bwyd’ (BBB)7 initiative was started at Cadoxton Primary School by Janet Hayward OBE, Executive Headteacher of Cadoxton and Oak Field Primary Schools in Barry, with the aim of ensuring no child is hungry and that every child is able to learn how to make good food choices that enable them to thrive. Using imaginatively converted shipping containers, children and families are provided with food at ‘pay as you feel’ prices and are supported with authentic learning experiences through growing and cooking food. Supported by the Welsh Government, the project had installed nearly 70 BBBs in schools by the end of 2022. Crucially, the installation of a Big Bocs Bwyd in a school is explicitly linked to the four purposes of the Curriculum for Wales, ensuring that children are:  • • • •

healthy, confdent individuals ambitious, capable learners ethical, informed citizens enterprising, creative contributors.

Every child will become food literate by growing, cooking and learning about food and there are curriculum materials and resources on the BBB website. Janet Hayward explains: It makes us so proud that a project that grew from a seed of an idea at Cadoxton Primary in late 2017 is now continuing to grow and fourish, not just in Cadoxton but across Wales. The Big Bocs Bwyd project enables so many contexts for authentic learning experiences, bringing the ambition for the Curriculum for Wales to life, as well as the Wellbeing of Future Generations

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(Wales) Act 2015. Each BBB has its own unique way of operating but all share the same vision. As each BBB is delivered to a new school seting, relationships between the school, its families and community are strengthened through the shared purpose that growing food and cooking food can bring. 8 The benefts of the Big Bocs Bwyd In the relatively short time of the BBBs being operational, the indications remain that they do have the potential to be an efective intervention to contribute to the following: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

providing a vehicle for Curriculum for Wales to be developed in an authentic and inclusive way providing a setings-based approach to the provision of food and nutrition learning without the stigma of a food bank the reduction of food poverty/food insecurity helping to start to improve awareness of nutritional intake/quality helping to improve the overall wellbeing of the families who use the BBB increasing parental engagement and involvement at the school/in their gardens measurably reducing food waste encouraging wider community cohesion (and links with other food/ growing-related suppliers and projects) increasing food literacy increasing the knowledge necessary to help address the nature and climate emergency at a community level increasing the food growing skills necessary to encourage community growing increasing food preparation and cooking skills (at schools where they have the facilities) generating a small income for the school – making them relatively cost neutral (afer initial set-up) and helping to contribute to their viability and sustainability.9

The benefts of linking to the curriculum mean that these are not stand-alone ‘initiatives’ but are embedded in the culture and ethos of the school and explicitly beneft young people and their families by enriching their learning and involving parents and carers in that process.

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Designing for the Community

Figure 2.5 Woodberry Down Children’s Centre, Hackney, London, by Rivington Street Studio, due to be completed in 2023.

Future-proofng Children’s Centres have been seen as important family hubs in some communities with the highest levels of need. While many were closed by austerity cuts over the last 12 years, some have remained open and have extended their services to meet local need. This was the case at Woodberry Down Children’s Centre in Hackney (Figure 2.5), where the project brief set out to consolidate services and extend the Children’s Centre, which provides important services to the Woodberry Down community. Developed in close collaboration with the building users, the scheme (due to be completed in 2023) will provide high-quality spaces within two contemporary extensions. Services ofered by the Children’s Centre during the Covid-19 pandemic included childcare, midwifery appointments, Citizens Advice Bureau support by phone, vitamin collection, a family support contact centre and activities for families to do at home. Once a building is already well used by the community there is an opportunity for it to do more, expanding its reach and providing a wider variety of services. Ensuring that buildings are future-proofed at the design stage, so they can expand, adapt or be used fexibly to do diferent things, is key. Community engagement The impact of a joined-up, community-focused, place-based approach can be seen in recently completed school capital projects across Scotland. These have

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Community Schools

been explicitly created as community campuses or hubs and these buildings are used throughout the day, and year-round, by a wide range of local people, service providers and community organisations. The Barony Campus in Cumnock (Figure 2.6) is one of Scotland’s most innovative, ambitious and inclusive learning facilities. It opened its doors to the Robert Burns Academy and Supported Learning Centre pupils in October 2020. Hillside Additional Support Needs (ASN) School and Lochnorris Primary School and Supported Learning Centre and Early Childhood Centre pupils joined in November 2020. The campus is commited to delivering an inclusive learning environment where state-of-the-art facilities are provided for its children, young people and members of the community. A further focus on health and wellbeing ensures this commitment extends to the outdoor facilities to provide enhanced leisure and recreational facilities for all members of the community. Children and young people, staf, parents and the local community played a signifcant role in developing the design for the campus. They worked with the design team and senior ofcers to ensure the design of the campus refected the educational aspirations of the council, considering the requirements of the local community and the natural heritage and architecture of the area.10 Engaging with the community, geting their buy-in and involvement in the design, has created ownership and understanding of how the facilities can beneft them and meet their needs.

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Figure 2.6 Barony Campus, East Ayrshire, Scotland, by Sheppard Robson, 2020. View of the Hillside Additional Support Needs (ASN) School building and playground, with Lochnorris Primary School at frst-foor level.

Designing for the Community

Figure 2.7 Newbatle High School, Midlothian, Scotland, by Hub North Scotland, 2018.

I am so proud of the way that the new campus has come together. Huge amounts of consultation have resulted in something very special here. A key part of the success is the daily intergenerational working between community users and school students. In school we have tracked increased engagement and work with a range of pivotal partners delivering a truly motivating curriculum. Our technology as a Digital Centre of Excellence is fantastic. Gib McMillan, Headteacher, Newbatle Community High School11

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Partnerships The creation of a community hub provides the opportunity to develop innovative partnerships and explore how new ways of working can address local need. At Newbatle Community Campus in Midlothian, the new 1,200-pupil Newbatle Community High School (Figure 2.7) is co-located with community facilities such as a library, café, swimming pool and sports facilities. It opened to the community in May 2018 and to pupils in June 2018 and has allowed Midlothian Council to continue its ambition to create a world-class education system by pioneering a new Digital Centre of Excellence. In a unique partnership between Midlothian Council and the University of Edinburgh, the new high school has been designed as a world-class hub of innovation, aimed at transforming learning and teaching and equipping young people with the digital skills they will need to meet the growing global demand for high-level, 21st-century skills. It is the frst of its kind in Scotland.12 The development of a community hub provides an opportunity to explore new relationships and set an ambitious agenda for education and the community. Governance and management It is important to acknowledge that operating facilities for community use is not without its challenges, so thinking through the design requirements related to potential governance and management issues at the start of the design process is important. Sharing spaces with other users can create issues around who is responsible for security, operating costs and the management of resources. The Child Poverty Action Group report noted a constraint raised in headteacher interviews in regards to leting school premises due to the safeguarding challenges this presents. One teacher highlighted the difculty in allowing people to use space which provides full access to the rest of the school. The respondent also stated that the school did not have the capacity to organise and broker the use of school facilities with external parties. Secure but fexible zoning can, of course, alleviate many of these issues if the range of potential uses and users is clearly anticipated and articulated at the outset. Similarly, being able to zone energy use and controls around the building can make a real diference when there is no additional funding available to cover running costs, and use of robust materials and fnishes can mitigate wear and tear on buildings that are opened for extended hours.

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Designing for community: key points for the design brief 1.

2.

3.

4.

5. 6.

7.

8. 9. 10.

Show strong leadership – embed the principle of the school as a community resource and be clear about the benefts this brings. This can be through policy frameworks, such as in Scotland, or local guidance by councils or multi-academy trusts. Have a clear vision and ethos from the start – beginning the briefng process by knowing the community beneft you want to achieve, and how it will be delivered or measured, is important in shaping the design. Be clear about who will use the building, how and when they will use it, and what facilities they will need. Understand whether you are creating a community hub or a community resource – a community hub will require additional space for partnership working and facilities that provide a wide range of services. A community resource may be used during the school day or mainly afer normal school hours. Add value to existing partnerships – most schools will already be community schools. Understand how the design can support and enrich the activities already being delivered, and their aspirations for the future. Be clear about governance and management – make sure there are no surprises about how spaces will be used, who will be responsible for their running and upkeep and how they will be managed. Zone-in layers – think about how the spaces will work in suites at diferent times of the day and year. The school may want to invite parents and partners in during the school day. They may want to open sports facilities outside normal school hours, or make large spaces such as the library, hall and dining area available for events. Each zone should be ringfenced for environmental controls such as heating and lighting, as well as provision of secure, inclusive access and toilets, to ensure efcient use of resources. Future-proof – think about how to create multiuse spaces that can accommodate a range of school and community activities to maximise usage. Also consider how the community facilities could be extended in future if there was additional need. Involve the community – create early opportunities to hear from existing or potential community users about what is important to them, so the design fully meets their needs. Link to the curriculum – be clear how the ‘community’ element of the design links to the learning activities, particularly if partner organisations are using the spaces. Design for additional users – make sure that community users have storage for their resources and materials, can make refreshments out of normal school hours, and have access to appropriate toilets and changing facilities.

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Community Schools

Case Study 1

Three Rivers Academy, Surrey

Replacing the former Rydens Enterprise School, the 1,875-pupil school was commissioned by the Surrey-based multi-academy trust The Howard Partnership. The new building provides highquality, spacious facilities to inspire 21st-century learning, with a vision to create a ‘world-class learning environment for students’.

Location: Hersham, Surrey Internal area: 15,000m2 Site area: 9.4 hectares Occupancy: 1,875 pupils Age range of occupants: 11–19 years Client team: The Howard Partnership/Department for Education Design team: Scot Brownrigg (architects); Arup (structural engineers); Silcock Dawson (services engineer); Space Zero (interior design/furniture, ftings and equipment); BAM Construction (contractor) Milestone days: opened September 2018 Project cost: £30 million Sustainability: BREEAM Very Good Awards/accreditations: World Architecture Awards fnalist 2018, shortlisted for RICS Social Impact Award/highly commended at the SPACES Awards, Civic Building of the Year

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The new school was funded by the sale of surplus land for residential development and the master plan created a new neighbourhood centred around a civic square connected to Hersham Road by a landscaped boulevard. Both the square and the boulevard provide opportunities for the safe drop-of and collection of children to and from the school. The master plan sets the boulevard in a crescent shape with a central footpath that meanders between the trees and links through to the centre of the square.

Designing for the Community

The concept for Three Rivers Academy proposed a unifed series of spaces under a single roof. Conceptually, these spaces form an almost creature-like arrangement, with a head (the sixth form and library), body (specialist teaching rooms and the ‘mall’) and tail (sports and drama). The lateral pastoral houses spring from the body like four separate limbs. The conceptual build-up of the limbs is akin to a stick of rock: the outer shell of standing-seam cladding acts as a protective sheath which, if sliced through anywhere along the limb, reveals the distinctive faculty colour within. Internally, the wayfnding is intuitive and clear. The use of distinct faculty colours is instantly recognisable, with the use of graphics, furniture walls and fooring, allowing users to locate themselves throughout the building with ease.

Figure 2.8 (top) Three Rivers Academy: elevation to playing felds. Figure 2.9 (botom) Three Rivers Academy: early sketch idea.

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At the far ‘tail’ end of the building are the sports and community facilities. This area is identifed with the use of large-format super-graphics on the walls of the main hall adjacent to the dedicated community entrance. This means that as well as community use of sports pitches and the multiuse games area (MUGA), the sports hall is also easily accessible for out-of-hours use. It is marked up for six badminton courts, two volleyball courts, one basketball court and two half-size courts, plus two fve-a-side pitches. The space has a very high ceiling, sprung foor and fantastic lighting. Changing facilities are available right by the sports hall and a viewing platform enables parents and visitors to take part in the experience. Also carefully zoned for community use is the large, bright and airy dance/activity studio, which has a sprung foor with mirrors and a double barre along one wall. The space can easily be split into two areas using a partition wall, allowing two classes or groups to use the facility at the same time.

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Similarly, the purpose-built drama studio is a great place to rehearse upcoming performances, with dimming lights and blackout curtains. There is plenty of space to break out into diferent groups and then bring everything together. And the main hall is a fexible space, ideal for clubs, exhibitions, conferencing and networking. A large screen is available to the front, with capacity seating for up to 300 people. One side is a glass bank wall, with its own entrance area; this is a great community space. The school has already received exceptional feedback from the pupils, teachers and parents for the diference it is making to the teaching and learning process. It hosts a wide range of clubs and activities, from karate, ftness and netball, to ballet, music and drama.

Figure 2.10 Three Rivers Academy: main entrance and public square.

Designing for the Community

The school has already received exceptional feedback from the pupils, teachers and parents for the diference it is making to the teaching and learning process.

Figure 2.11 (lef) Three Rivers Academy: central street or ‘mall’. Figure 2.12 (below) Three Rivers Academy: dining area in the ‘mall’.

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Case Study 2

Melopee Multifunctional School Building, Ghent, Belgium

Location: Kompasplein 1, Ghent, Belgium Internal area: 4,630m² Site area: 2,625m² (stacking allows for 3,050m² of exterior space) Occupancy: 268 for the school; 276 for the sports hall Age range of occupants: 0–12 years for the school; 0–99 years for the sports hall Client: sogent Design team: XDGA (Xaveer De Geyter Architects); Ney & Partners (structure); Studiebureau Boydens (mechanical); Daidalos Peutz ingenieursbureau (acoustics) Milestone days: opened February 2020 Project cost: €10 million (excl. TVA) Predicted or in-use operational energy data (kWh/m2 /y): 78.8 Sustainability or wellbeing metric, data or certifcation: Passivhaus Certifcate; ZAWENT system (Zero Waste Water with Energy and Nutrient Recovery); indoor air quality: IDA2 (EN 13779:2004) Awards/accreditations: BigMat International Architecture Award 2021, Grand Prize, winner; Brussels Architecture Prize 2021, category Extra Muros, winner; Benelux Trofee voor Thermisch Verzinken 2021, category Esthetisch Verzinken, winner; Prijs Wivina Demeester voor Excellent Bouwheerschap 2021, category Architectuuropdracht, winner; European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2022, shortlisted

Figure 2.13 Melopee: view from the water.

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Designing for the Community

Melopee is a multipurpose building located in the Ghent docklands, a former industrial area that is rapidly transforming into a new, vibrant district. This public city building, central to OMA’s13 ‘chopstick’ master plan, acts as both a school and a social facility for the neighbourhood, by means of its openness and programmatic mix. It exemplifes a new and bold way of thinking about education, open space and social interaction. In 2004, sogent launched an urban development competition to rethink a narrow stretch of land in the harbour area, along a dock freed from port activities. OMA’s master plan put forward a rather

simple ‘chopstick’ plan in which green open pockets alternate with dense construction. In order to ofer a notion of centrality to the linear plan, a public path is meant to cross the whole strip. The site for the school (65m x 40m) faces one green area at its south side, the dock on its west side, a square and a housing block on the north and the harbour road on the east. The building provides a diverse set of spaces: an elementary and primary school, an afer-school care centre, a nursery and sports facilities for both the school and its neighbourhood. In addition, it was required to deliver a range of outside play space on a tight site.

Figure 2.14 Melopee: ground-foor plan.

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Community Schools

Melopee has been selected as a model project for ‘building a multifunctional school’.

In order to counter the lack of space, deal with the relationships between inside and outside spaces and allow for the public path to pass, the maximum building envelope is divided into two halves: one compact building housing all interior functions, and an outside space in which the playgrounds are stacked. In between both, and under a frst-level playground realised in glass tiles, the path crosses the volume. A galvanized-steel skeleton unifes the two halves. On the side of the interior volume, the façades of the building are designed as a patchwork of opaque and translucent polycarbonate, glass and aluminium louvres. The outside structure will be overgrown with vegetation climbing along a steel mesh, in which some large ‘windows’ are cut out. The project operates according to the ‘community school’ principle. This means that organisations from diferent sectors (such as sports or youth work), as well as the neighbourhood, are welcome to use the building’s facilities, with the common goal of broadening the development of children and young people. In light of this specifc ambition, Melopee has been selected as a model project for ‘building a multifunctional school’ by the Agency for Infrastructure in Education of the Flemish Government.

Figure 2.15 (top) Melopee: view of exterior playgrounds. Figure 2.16 (botom) Melopee: view of the main entrance and stairs.

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Specifcally, the meeting room on the ground foor and the cafeteria on the frst foor, as well as the sports hall and the open-air basketball court on the fourth foor, are independently accessible both from inside and outside the building during opening hours and during weekends or school holidays.

Designing for the Community

The involvement of the users in the life of the building plays a key role in generating possibilities for interaction: the play equipment is part of the architecture, the children are involved in taking care of the plants, both in the façade and in the hanging vegetable garden, the oversized central staircase serves as a grandstand and a number of unprogrammed spaces leave room for creativity and transformation. Similarly, a great deal of atention has been put into the energy and environmental aspects of the project, which meets the standards of a low-energy and passive building. This is refected not only in the choice for the façade techniques and materials (high thermal inertia, acoustic absorption), but also

in the creation of a healthier and more comfortable working and learning environment (quality of light, indoor air), that ultimately benefts the productivity and focus of both children and teaching staf. The Melopee School is not the frst building with stacked outdoor spaces, elevated playgrounds, a sports hall on the top foor or an overgrown steel structure. However, the way in which these elements are combined is unique, and are the result of the specifc constraints imposed by the brief, the master plan and the plot. The project makes the most out of the limited space available by exploiting the maximum building envelope by having a building in two interconnected halves, one open and one closed. As a ‘community school’, it has been designed to work not only for students and teachers, but also for the neighbourhood and the city at large.

Figure 2.17 Melopee: concept diagrams.

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Case Study 3

Merkinch Primary School and Family Centre, Inverness Location: Carse Road, Inverness, Scotland Internal Area: 4,029m2 Site area: 2.7 hectares Occupancy: 1,437 Age range of occupants: Primary School: 4–12 years; Family Centre: all ages Client: The Highland Council Design team: NORR Consultants Limited and Highland Council Architects (architects); Robertson Construction Northern (main contractor); WA Fairhurst (civil and structural engineer); Pick Everard (mechanical and electrical engineer); Atelier Ten (fre engineer); Highland Landscape Design (landscaping); RMP (acoustic consultant) Milestone days: occupation October 2020 Project cost: £16.7 million Predicted or in-use operational energy data (kWh/m2 /y): 32.8 (note: total building load) Embodied carbon data (kgCO2/m2): 437 (design life: 60 years) Sustainability or wellbeing metric, data or certifcation: Predicted on-site renewable energy generation 4.42 kWh/m2 /y, from roof-mounted PV array Awards/accreditations: IAA (Inverness Architectural Association) President’s Award, Wood for Good (winner); Learning Places Scotland Awards 2021, Innovation in Delivering a Sustainable Learning Space (winner); Learning Places Scotland Awards 2021, Innovation in Delivering Value (winner)

The vision for Merkinch was to deliver a healthy learning environment and an energy-efcient sustainable building that would support the community and learners for decades to come, in one of the most deprived areas of Inverness. The contemporary extension was designed as a state-of-the-art educational facility that paid respect to the original Category B listed Victorian school. It features 14 new classrooms, a new ancillary teaching area, three new nursery rooms, a fourcourt games hall and a family centre that creates spaces, places and experiences benefting the local community. Merkinch Primary School has historically had a problem with troubled pupils lashing out and absconding from school. A safe and secure seting for teaching and learning was vital. In addition to conventional classrooms, general purpose rooms and learning support rooms are distributed throughout the school. Circulation spaces widen at key points to create breakout spaces, providing less formal learning and teaching environments. The design allows for good staf supervision of the pupils within the school and the adjacent playground. It aims to provide strong connections between indoor and outdoor spaces. The sports hall and the adjacent sports pitches can be used by the wider community out of school hours. The form and massing of the new school have been broken down to respect the scale and form of the adjacent original listed primary school buildings on Telford Road. The principal façade is to Carse Road and is designed to refect the importance of the school within the Merkinch community. Vehicular, pedestrian and cyclist entrances to the site are separated, with priority given to pedestrians and

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cyclists. A paved, public plaza creates a pedestrianfriendly gathering space in front of the entrance and incorporates a small, shared-surface parking zone for disabled users.

Figure 2.18 Merkinch: entrance elevation.

The detailing and materials of the new building are crisp and modern, with large areas of glass bringing daylight to the teaching spaces. The palete of external materials has been kept to a minimum, with light-coloured brick cladding to the external walls and dark grey, standing-seam metal roofng. The glazing to the classrooms incorporates louvres in front of opening lights, which act as a protective barrier, and allow for natural ventilation. The main school entrance is demarcated with a glass dormer/ lantern. All building fnishes were closely scrutinised to ensure their suitability and longevity. The design avoided the use of fat roofs or internal downpipes.

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Figure 2.19 Merkinch: outlook from the library.

Figure 2.20 Merkinch: library and seating stair.

Mass timber had never been used on this scale in the Highlands, and Merkinch Primary School is the largest school in Scotland to be built using crosslaminated timber (CLT). Not only does the mass timber structure have much lower embodied energy, it also allowed for considerably lighter foundations, meaning less concrete below ground, reducing embodied carbon even further. Whole-life carbon was reduced by 60% compared with the original design of a steel frame with concrete infll panels. Furthermore, the mass timber structure acts as a carbon sink – sequestering carbon for the lifetime of the building.

were correctly sealed, to limit warm air leaking out through the building envelope and to achieve a very low airtightness fgure.

All CLT panels were installed to strict tolerances, ensuring that they fted together accurately, and all penetrations, openings and junctions

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This use of timber resulted in an improved project programme, beter thermal performance, and a superior internal environment. The carefully considered design creates a safe, secure seting and enhanced learning environment for staf and pupils. The combination of conventional classrooms with breakout spaces provides the option of less formal teaching areas. By collaborating with teachers, students and community members to design a modern education facility with historical roots, NORR delivered a sustainable project that will beneft the entire community.

Figure 2.21 (top) Merkinch: timber-lined classroom. Figure 2.22 (right) Merkinch: curriculum garden.

NORR delivered a sustainable project that will beneft the entire community.

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Chapter 3 Designing for Wellbeing

Community Schools

Wellbeing has risen up the agenda in schools in recent years, accelerated by the health concerns and unprecedented disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Debate and research about what wellbeing means has increasingly started to inform practice and create a greater understanding of how design can produce healthy places to live, work and study. This is not just a hot topic but one where we are seeing more evidence of need emerging. Alongside the welfare and workload concerns of school staf, the perspectives of young people are starting to be beter captured, and this is important. Edurio1 surveyed more than 45,000 pupils from 165 primary, secondary and all-through schools between May and July 2021. Less than half of pupils reported feeling well overall lately, with stress, overworking and sleep quality an issue for a large number of respondents. Older pupils reported lower wellbeing than younger pupils and, in most cases, girls reported lower wellbeing scores than boys, and those with a gender identity other than male or female reported signifcantly lower wellbeing than boys or girls. Edurio found most pupils felt safe in school, though a signifcant minority did not, and on average one in fve pupils reported being bullied in the previous three months. Similarly, the Children’s Commissioner’s The Big Ask survey2 also reported that a minority of children found that the outside world could be frightening, especially for vulnerable children. They worried about gangs, violence and bullying. The survey found that loneliness was an issue for a quarter of pupils. It is likely that unless we address these issues for young people they will get worse. While school design cannot take away the economic, environmental or social issues that young people are worried about, it can provide safe, sustainable, inclusive and healthy places that support the great work that schools are doing to ensure pupil wellbeing and to develop their skills to be resilient and emotionally intelligent. A greater emphasis is needed on these aspects of the brief, along with a beter understanding of how school facilities can support staf, families and communities with their health and wellbeing. In this chapter we look at how wellbeing is being addressed within schools and what implications this might have for future school design.

Defning wellbeing in schools There is no single, agreed defnition of wellbeing that we could draw on to consider how school buildings and grounds might beter contribute to this important

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agenda. In the absence of this, we have looked at the range of diferent approaches to understanding and articulating wellbeing, particularly where they are used in educational setings. As a result, we have put forward our own defnition – set out in our School Wellbeing Pyramid (see Figure 3.1) – to help us beter frame the contribution of the design process and the resulting architecture. The Oxford English Dictionary defnition of wellbeing is ‘healthy, happy, prosperous’. While this forms a useful starting point, the defnitions that are used within educational setings go further in expanding and tailoring what this might mean for young people and staf. The Department for Education Staf Wellbeing Charter3 defnes wellbeing as ‘a state of complete physical and mental health that is characterised by highquality social relationships’. This document has a focus on managing workload, but the defnition provides an interesting touch point in the importance of social interaction, which is reinforced by others below. The Scotish Government’s Geting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) 4 approach supports children and young people to grow up feeling loved, safe and respected and able to realise their full potential. It says that at home, in school or the wider community, every child and young person should be: • • • • • • • •

safe healthy achieving nurtured active respected responsible included.

This is known as SHANARRI. Education Scotland has set out a self-evaluation approach that supports schools to make the connection between the health and wellbeing experiences and outcomes and the GIRFEC wellbeing indicators, which we explore further in Chapter 5. The GIRFEC resource package can be used fexibly to evaluate an establishment’s current position and includes key questions as a starting point for understanding the current picture and future planning.

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Geting It Right for Every Child: wellbeing self-assessment •

Thinking about your own establishment, which wellbeing indicator/s would you regard as a priority and why? • What is your rationale and evidence for this decision? • Can you link this/these with your establishment improvement plan? • In what way/s could you consult with your school community to gain their input in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of this planning process? • Can you identify/suggest opportunities to facilitate the following: — children/young people to self-report about their progress in health and wellbeing — time for observation/dialogue between children/young people and an adult who knows them well — occasions when practitioners can engage in moderation and professional dialogue in relation to evaluating progress and achievement in health and wellbeing? • Which of your existing procedures for monitoring and tracking would best support this process?5 Discussing and agreeing what ‘wellbeing’ means to an organisation is a helpful way of creating a defnition that everyone can understand and sign up to, and can be used to drive the design brief by establishing clear indicators of how wellbeing will be measured, including the contribution the physical environment will make. Developing this approach to designing for wellbeing will ensure there is a baseline for post-occupancy evaluation. An agreed defnition of wellbeing will also be informed by the requirements of the curriculum, which can vary considerably, and how the school is meeting them. In the example of the Scotish Curriculum for Excellence,6 health and wellbeing form a theme, not a single subject or class, organised into six areas and taught across the curriculum. These areas are: 1.

Mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing, which includes learning to recognise and express feelings, learning about rights and responsibilities and how to put these into practice, fnding out about relationships and how to build good and supportive friendships with others, and giving young people skills to keep safe, to cope in an emergency and to travel safely. 2. Planning for choices and changes, which includes widening knowledge about choices in life and the costs and benefts atached, and learning how

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Discussing and agreeing what ‘wellbeing’ means to an organisation is a helpful way of creating a defnition that everyone can understand and sign up to.

Designing for Wellbeing

3. 4.

5.

6.

to manage expectations and hopes, and develop decision-making skills that will help pupils make good choices for the future. Physical education, physical activity and sport, which includes taking part in physical activity and sport. Food and health, which includes building knowledge and skills in preparing healthy, tasty, afordable dishes, understanding diet and healthy eating habits, and about other links and infuences like religious beliefs, culture, advertising and the media. Substance misuse, which includes understanding of the use and misuse of a variety of substances, including over-the-counter and prescribed medicines, alcohol, drugs, tobacco and solvents, and the impact of risk-taking behaviour on life choices to promote positive choices. Relationships, sexual health and parenthood, which includes how to build and keep good relationships with a variety of people.

Following this approach means that wellbeing is embedded in all areas of the school curriculum, and is therefore embedded in the design requirements, and should be a key theme throughout the brief. By contrast, in England7 there is an expectation that all schools will teach personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, although it is a non-statutory subject. The Department for Education (DfE) states that teachers are best placed to understand the needs of their pupils and do not need additional central prescription, but it expects schools to use their PSHE education programme to equip pupils with a sound understanding of risk and with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions. The DfE advises that schools should seek to use PSHE education to build, where appropriate, on the statutory content already outlined in the national curriculum, the basic school curriculum and in statutory guidance on: drug education, fnancial education, sex and relationship education (SRE) and the importance of physical activity and diet for a healthy lifestyle. This is likely to mean PSHE in England is taught within existing curriculum spaces (classrooms, technology and PE spaces) and schools need to refect on this within the briefng process. For example, visiting professionals may provide inputs to the curriculum through talks, workshops and performances and space will need to be available for their activities. Pastoral and counselling spaces may be required to provide more appropriate setings to explore sensitive issues informally, helping young people to relax and open up.

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The Curriculum for Wales8 has four purposes that are the starting point and aspiration for schools’ curriculum design, supporting young people to become: • • • •

ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world healthy, confdent individuals, ready to lead fulflling lives as valued members of society.

The Health and Wellbeing section of the curriculum is concerned with developing the capacity of learners to navigate life’s opportunities and challenges. The fundamental components of this are physical health and development, mental health, and emotional and social wellbeing. Each school in Wales designs a curriculum that meets the particular needs of their own community of learners, which is likely to be a signifcant thread of the school’s design requirements and requires a detailed understanding by the design team in order to deliver the right spaces. As schools transition to a ‘new normal’ following the Covid-19 pandemic, many will have acquired learning and understanding about how to support young people, staf and families in terms of their emotional, social and mental wellbeing that they will start to embed in how they operate. The Department of Education in Ireland document ‘Supporting the Wellbeing of School Communities: Guidance for Schools’ (February 2022)9 recommends that school communities will be helped to foster resilience as they transition through the Covid-19 pandemic using fve key principles: • • •

•

•

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Promoting a sense of safety – so that people feel that they are safe, physically and psychologically, and that those around them are safe. Promoting a sense of calm – so that people feel relaxed, composed and grounded. Promoting a sense of belonging and connectedness – so that people experience reconnecting with their friends and colleagues, and those who understand and support them in the school community. Promoting a sense of self-efcacy and community-efcacy – so that people believe that they can manage and do what is needed individually and as a school community. Promoting a sense of hope – so that people believe that things will work out well.

Designing for Wellbeing

Future-proofng

Hope, pride and ambition Understanding how you can achieve your best and being supported to do so Agency and choice Being enabled to use your skills and experiences to make a contribution and informed choices Sense of belonging Being part of a community where positive social interactions enrich the experience and create a sense of connectedness Support and advice Having the opportunity to develop the skills and experiences needed to support physical, social, mental and emotional wellbeing The basics Feeling safe and calm; having a comfortable learning environment; access to water and healthy food; and opportunities for physical activity

Figure 3.1 The School Wellbeing Pyramid.

These approaches may now be adopted by schools as new ways of working, seeing uncertainty and change as being part of the normal operating environment for the foreseeable future.

The School Wellbeing Pyramid While there are clearly variations in how wellbeing is understood, addressed and positioned within the curriculum, there are common threads across the defnitions and activities that can be useful when thinking about how to design schools. We have developed these into a hierarchy of wellbeing, similar to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,10 so that the school design process can explicitly explore these elements as part of the brief creation (Figure 3.1). When briefng for wellbeing, the frst step in the pyramid (geting the basics right) continues to be critically important. No one will be able to address the more developmental aspects of wellbeing if they are unsafe, cold or hungry – but creating more discussion about, and understanding of, how the environment supports the other steps will be equally important in delivering a building with the wider needs of students and staf at its heart. This is considered further below.

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The School Wellbeing Pyramid – a design response Below we set out a design response to the School Wellbeing Pyramid, thinking about how we can embed the pyramid’s principles in the briefng process for new schools and also ensure they form part of the measurements and indicators for future user evaluation.

The basics – safety and comfort

School should be a safe place for children, allowing them to leave any concerns at the gate and concentrate on the learning and social experience on ofer, yet schools should not be fortresses. Geting the balance right is ofen a challenge. Safeguarding requirements can overtake a light-touch approach, and standards such as Secured by Design11 can feel onerous. The design should ensure visitors feel welcomed, while still being easily managed through a comfortable and secure reception area. Using the building as the secure line can help to make entrances visible but avoid visitors having to come deep into the site to gain access. Pupil entrances should be placed so they are easily supervised by staf at the start and end of the day, and securely closed of when not in use. Within the site, good visibility and sight lines mean children are always in view, giving them the comfort of passive supervision and adults easily available to deal with any issues or concerns. Easy access to well-planned and diverse outside social spaces, circulation that is generous to allow calm movement, dining that is well planned to create a relaxing social experience, and toilets that are easily supervised while maintaining privacy all add to the comfort of users. They can also reduce the potential for damage and the need for repairs that can impact embodied carbon as well as school budgets. Particularly in the post-pandemic world, schools want their environments to feel ‘homely’ – creating spaces where their young people feel relaxed and calm. Views out of the building connect users to the external areas and particularly green (nature) and blue (water) spaces, supporting their wellbeing and creating interest, as well as supporting the cooling and biodiversity benefts of natural environments. Good display, colours and signage create a sense of ownership and inclusive understanding of the environment that can promote a feeling of joy and delight – a principle of good architecture established by Vitruvius in the frst century BC.

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School should be a safe place for children, allowing them to leave any concerns at the gate.

Designing for Wellbeing

Support and advice – skills development

Understanding the learner journey is key to making the design work for all. Creating age- and ability-appropriate spaces, both inside and outside, that give a sense of progression and promote ownership allows young people to have the right experiences at the right time. Designing spaces so they provide variety and fexibility allows schools to meet a variety of needs, catering to numerous group sizes and learning activities. Thinking about the learning experience and process when designing these spaces ensures they can accommodate hands-on practical activities, allow for facilitated theory lessons, and support self-managed research, alongside well-planned spaces to provide additional support and for visiting professionals to work with individuals and small groups. The needs of every school community will be diferent and understanding their requirements will be important. Geting it right will support the whole school community and enable the facilities to endure without the need for further capital investment.

A sense of belonging

Every school will have a vision and ethos that underpins its educational approach and that needs to shine through the physical environment, creating a strong sense of identity and belonging. That sense of community can be reinforced through well-designed pupil social space and communal areas that promote positive interactions, high-quality, well-placed display that allows achievements to be celebrated and messages to be shared, and places that can be ‘owned’ by being tailored to year or pastoral groups, for example. In the same way, accommodating a range of needs so that spaces are inclusive will support belonging. This can be anything from simple features like fexible furniture (Figure 3.2) that can be moved around to accommodate diverse friendship groups and all-gender toilets that avoid forcing students to make genderspecifc choices, to fully-accessible areas and facilities that allow young people with mobility issues to be with their peers at all times. Well-planned staf spaces are equally important in encouraging collegiate working and professional sharing. Working with the school to understand how best to plan staf workspace, resource storage and meeting space will help to

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underpin the organisation and management priorities. Dedicated space for staf to withdraw, relax and socialise, indoors and outdoors, supports wellbeing. This does not necessarily need to be a traditional ‘staf room’ and can be dispersed in diferent ways as long as it provides staf with the facilities to make a cofee, have lunch or simply spend time with colleagues. There are also opportunities to express the culture and ethos of a school through the materials used in any new building (Figure 3.3).

Dedicated space for staf to withdraw, relax and socialise, indoors and outdoors, supports wellbeing.

Providing agency and choice

The learning environment can purposefully facilitate exploration, independence and interaction if designed to do so. For the youngest children, the early years phase (for children aged up to fve years old) promotes learning through play, free fowing between the indoors and outdoors, and allows children to make choices about the materials and equipment they use. These creative spaces are Figure 3.2 Milltimber School, Aberdeen, by Scot Brownrigg, completed in 2022. Flexible furniture.

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Figure 3.3 Milltimber School, Aberdeen, by Scot Brownrigg. The culture and ethos of a school can be expressed through the materials used in the building.

a masterclass in giving agency and promoting choice. The beautiful Silver Birch Outdoor Learning Centre in Argyll and Bute (see Case Study 4 later in this chapter) provides the youngest children with a rich learning experience in spaces that are connected to the natural world. In many schools around the world, project-based learning spaces promote group work, planning, decision-making and cross-curricular teaching. These spaces work best when they are highly fexible and digitally enabled, allow staf to act as facilitators and students to be creators. Having spaces that allow greater autonomy will support pupil wellbeing through developing their decision-making and collaboration skills.

A sense of hope, pride and ambition

Involving the school community in the briefng process, allowing them to share their aspirations and understanding of what works, and enabling them to see their insight translated into the design will help to engender a sense of pride and ambition in new school buildings. Conversations that value the past but look to the future, that celebrate and bring community together, and that support

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partnerships between the school and community create a change-management process that is underpinned by wellbeing. Using the consultation and engagement process to help users imagine themselves occupying their new building helps them to understand how best to prepare for the future and, at the same time, reduces anxiety about change and builds confdence that it will be a success.

Future-proofng

We cannot crystal-ball gaze, but anticipating or rehearsing future behavioural or societal trends and what they may require from a design is another important element that improves the impact and sustainability of a project. Exploring how the design would respond to plural scenarios supports future-proofng, innovation and educational opportunities. For example, the government’s ‘Levelling Up’ White Paper (2022)12 includes aspirations to teach children about healthy eating. With primary schools ofen lacking food teaching facilities, and food technology having fallen of the curriculum in some secondary schools, how can we create spaces that would allow children to learn about healthy eating without creating a classroom that is empty for much of the school day? Perhaps looking at the potential of existing dining spaces, or outside spaces, covered and linked to allotments for growing and cooking, would create possibilities. Ensuring the site master plan has a diversity of spaces that could accommodate change would give confdence for the future. Schools may wish to redesign the curriculum to address wellbeing by moving away from traditional physical education teaching to encompass a broader range of physical activities and healthy lifestyles. In practice, that may require a range of curriculum spaces that beter refect an emphasis on physical, emotional and social wellness. Similarly for staf, the DfE ‘Education Staf Wellbeing Charter’13 commits to establishing school cultures that support and value fexible working at all career stages, which could alter staf spaces as diferent modes of working become the norm.

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Designing for wellbeing: key points for the design brief 1.

2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Create an agreed defnition of ‘wellbeing’ that refects the school’s priorities and can be used to inform the design process. Set indicators of how wellbeing will be measured, including the contribution the building and outdoor spaces will make. Use the design process to engage and involve the school community, discussing issues of wellbeing and how the building can support their aspirations. This will create a sense of pride and ambition and help them to plan and manage themselves into the new building. Get the basics right. Think about safety and comfort as important but not driving the design process. They should work well for all users, without dominating. Think about the learner journey and design age-appropriate spaces that create a sense of progression and ownership. Group spaces together so they give fexibility for a range of learning and social activities, allowing the school to support new priorities with minimum disruption and stress. Consider how to create a sense of belonging that ensures all users are included in ways that meet their needs. Think about choice. Make sure the building creates opportunities for users to have agency in how they use it. Future-proof for emerging issues. Wellbeing is a relatively new concept for schools and it is likely that, as we learn more about what is needed and what works, the space requirements will change. Design-in opportunities to use spaces fexibly, indoors and outdoors, to meet the new challenges.

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Case Study 4

Silver Birch Outdoor Learning Centre, Argyll and Bute Location: Dunoon, Scotland Internal area: 33m² (timber shelter) Site area: 9,904m² Occupancy: 24 Age range of occupants: 3–4 years Client: Argyll & Bute Council Design team: Argyll & Bute Council, Commercial Services, Property Services Milestone days: work completed 2020; opened to children August 2021 Project cost: £215,000 Awards/accreditations: Learning Places Scotland – Early Learning and Childcare 2021 Winner

Silver Birch is a newly established outdoor learning centre in the scenic coastal town of Dunoon, in southwest Scotland. Work on-site was completed in 2020 and the frst ‘service-users’, children aged 3 and 4, entered the seting in August 2021. The initial vision behind the ‘build’, or ‘repurposing of a public space’ to be more precise, evolved organically through informal collaborative discussion between Argyll and Bute Council’s early years team, architects within the council’s Commercial Services department and Inspiring Scotland, a third-sector organisation whose mission is to ‘bring together people, communities, organisations and government to drive social change and transform lives’14 in Scotland. Taking account of current research around the positive efects of nature to support mental and physical wellbeing for young children, and the growing understanding that biophilic design

The aim was to deliver an early learning and childcare (ELC) space which supported child development in a completely natural, balanced, holistic environment.

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(design which builds upon the idea that humans have a natural afnity and urge to connect with other living things), the aim was to deliver an early learning and childcare (ELC) space which supported child development in a completely natural, balanced, holistic environment, while also supporting the wellbeing of staf working within the space on a daily basis. The architect’s brief was to provide an outdoor learning space where children could play and learn in a safe, secure environment, repurposing an existing open space used by members of the public. Community collaboration was also a key component of the brief, ensuring that community buy-in existed around the project at conception and that community beneft was an output at fruition.

Figure 3.4 (opposite) Silver Birch Outdoor Learning Centre: ‘the track’ weaving through the trees. Figure 3.5 (top) Silver Birch Outdoor Learning Centre: outdoor activity.

Building upon the growing body of knowledge and research around the benefts to the physical and mental wellbeing of adults and children of immersion within nature, the council wanted to  give children and staf the opportunity to explore boundaries and reach their potential through a positive approach to risk, developed within a nurturing, natural learning environment. In addition, as a local authority, Argyll and Bute is absolutely commited to supporting children’s mental health through regular and immersive access to natural, outside environments, so this project was simply an extension of this philosophy. For the ‘build’ itself, a timber shelter is located within the natural woodland to assist in the delivery of a high-quality learning experience, helping the council to meet the commitment by the Scotish Government to expand entitlement of funded early learning and childcare to 1,140 hours per year by August 2020 (later extended to August 2021 as a result of Covid-19).

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The timber shelter is 33m² and provides protection from the elements, a space for distributing food and to give privacy for changing and to maintain the dignity of the children. This simple shelter, with no power or water supply, provides a cost-efective solution to meeting the expansion of funded childcare – an outdoor seting does not need a fully functioning building to deliver high-quality, fexible early learning and childcare. The design solution for the toilet facilities utilises a unique evaporation/drying mechanism which works with no need for water, electricity or chemicals and avoids the use of treatment plants and infltration systems. It was considered that the installation of underground supply and waste pipework/cabling would cause signifcant disruption to the existing tree root system and have a detrimental impact on the existing natural woodland environment, so alternative solutions were sought.

Figure 3.6 (lef) Silver Birch Outdoor Learning Centre: playhouse.

At Silver Birch, the vision and values are based frmly on the belief that parents and carers are their child’s primary educator; alongside this sit their peers and, in alignment with the Reggio Emilia approach, the environment is the child’s third educator.15 As such, parents and carers are very much involved in the life of the seting, and practitioners and children learn alongside each other, from each other and from their immediate surroundings. This vision permeates the space and unites with the aim to ensure that all children at Silver Birch have the opportunity to explore boundaries and achieve their potential through a positive approach towards risk management, led by highly trained, commited staf, within an organic, ever-changing learning environment.

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Argyll and Bute Council truly believes that outdoor play, within an environment which supports a natural balance of nature and nurture, brings immeasurable beneft to the development of children’s physical, cognitive, social, emotional and mental and physical wellbeing and development. The natural world ofers opportunities to learn about sustainability and global citizenship, and brings learning to life, as well as supporting multiple developmental domains such as intellectual, emotional, social, physical and spiritual.16

Figure 3.7 (top) Silver Birch Outdoor Learning Centre: site plan. Figure 3.8 (botom) Silver Birch Outdoor Learning Centre: playhouse section.

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Case Study 5

House of Nature, Silkeborg Folk High School, Denmark Location: Platanvej 12, Silkeborg, Denmark Internal area: 2,368m2 Site area: 53.96 hectares Occupancy: 40 Age range of occupants: long-term courses (Sep–Dec and Jan–Jun): 18–26 years; short-term/one-week courses (Jul–Aug): 18–70 years Client: Silkeborg Folk High School Design team: Reværk Architecture (architect); Constructa (consulting engineers and architects); Fr Madsen (carpentry) Milestone days: opened summer 2021 Project cost: €940,000 including VAT, and including all custommade furniture and special interiors Predicted or in-use operational energy data (kWh/m2 /y): 25.4 Awards/accreditations: Silkeborg Municipality Architecture Award, honourable mention 2021; Dezeen Awards 2021, shortlisted in Civic Building category

Situated between open park and forest, the House of Nature is designed to accommodate the teaching of ‘nature and outdoor life’ at Silkeborg Folk High School. (A Danish folk high school is a non-formal residential school ofering learning opportunities in almost any subject. Most students are between 18 and 24 years old.) As a reference to the forest, and to the purpose of the building, the use of wood was mandatory. The building itself is conceived as a lesson in sustainable timber construction. Used for interior, exterior, insulation and construction, the material minimises the embodied carbon footprint of the building. The use of screw pile foundations also eliminated the need for concrete,

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and allows the building to extend in between the trees, providing each room with varied views and connections to the forest.  Silkeborg Folk High School was the frst in Denmark to ofer ‘nature and outdoor life’ as a main teaching subject. As the popularity of the subject increased, the school wanted to improve its teaching facilities.   The brief for the new educational building was to create a space that exudes nature and creates a close connection to the surrounding forest. Furthermore, a key priority for the school was to set new standards for sustainable building practice.   In order to accommodate the client’s brief, the design approach was to create a building as purely based on wood as possible. To do so, the architects took inspiration from historic building techniques. The design is inspired by old Danish ‘bullade’ timber-frame construction dating back to the Viking Age and the ventilation/heating is based on a 250-year-old Russian ‘Fortochka’ window concept that uses natural integrated ventilation through thermal buoyancy. The building is even insulated with wood fbre made from wood residuals. Four lightweight timber-framed forms, connected internally but visually distinct from the outside, gently fan out along the edge of a curved, decked path. The elevation is blank on approach from the north, and opens up to the forest along its southern edge, with full-height windows forming a close relationship between the classrooms and the trees.17 The surrounding forest gives a play of light that creates a unique atmosphere in every room. To make the building closely connected to its function as an educational space for outdoor life, the use of natural materials and ‘rustic’ building components was an obvious choice. The construction

Designing for Wellbeing

Silkeborg Folk High School was the frst in Denmark to ofer ‘nature and outdoor life’ as a main teaching subject.

Figure 3.9 (above) House of Nature: elevation and approach. By designing each room according to its specifc function, the building gets its variety of volumes that moderate the scale of the House of Nature. Figure 3.10 (right) House of Nature: ground-foor plan.

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of the building is clearly visible and the screw pile foundations, raised slightly above ground to avoid fooding, allow the building to extend in between the trees of the forest. Each room has its own special connection to the varied, open and dense spaces of the forest and the whole structure has been designed in a way that it could be easily dismantled and removed from the site with litle trace. Research and investigations were required to source the materials – logs of oak and Douglas fr – at a sufcient quality, cut and size; interior Douglas fr cladding of the right dimension; exterior acacia shingles for the building, etc. A high level of material control was necessary to ensure longevity and visually pleasant ageing. This impacted the building programme but ensured an equally high level of materials throughout the project.  The site itself demanded a special way of building the foundations. An unusually high level of groundwater and a massive layer of organic soil

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made standard concrete solutions both inefcient and expensive. The alternative screw pile foundations resulted in both an environmentally and economically sustainable solution. Creating learning environments is not just about creating undefned spaces for activity. The architects see it as an invitation, as well as an obligation, to create conditions that will connect the users to their ‘essence’. With the House of Nature, ReVærk aimed to give the school a building that not only provided the obvious needs, but also a statement and an atmosphere that would afect and inspire.  The building’s visible, strong connection to its historic roots also shows how this can be an inspirational toolbox, not only to unlock a beautiful piece of architecture, but also to provide genuinely relevant potential in creating a contemporary, truly sustainable building.

Designing for Wellbeing

Figure 3.11 (opposite) House of Nature: the building’s interior is dominated by the exposed wood construction and cladding with Douglas fr planks, giving the room its warm character. Figure 3.12 (above) House of Nature: by using screw pile foundations, the building foats over the sloping ground. Figure 3.13 (right) House of Nature: the oak façade construction frames the cladding in acacia shingles and provides visual depth.

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Case Study 6

Burry Port Community Primary School, Carmarthenshire Location: Elkington Park, Burry Port, Carmarthenshire, Wales Internal area: 1,993m2 over three buildings Site area: 1 hectare Occupancy: 30 nursery and 210 primary pupils Age range of occupants: 3–11 years Client: Carmarthenshire County Council Design team: Architype (architects); Carmarthenshire County Council (joint architects); Elemental Solutions (Passivhaus consultancy); Troup Bywaters + Anders (mechanical and electrical engineers); Bingham Hall (structural design); Ion Acoustics (acoustic design); Fusion (fre engineering); Mackley Davies Associates (landscape design); WRW (contractor); Cygnum (timber frame); Woodknowledge Wales (timber consultancy) Milestone days: completion August 2015 Project cost: £3.8 million Sustainability or wellbeing metric, data or certifcation: Passivhaus certifcation, CO2 monitors in all classrooms, linked to a visual trafc light system Awards/accreditations: Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW) Special Award for Sustainability 2016; shortlisted for the Welsh Gold Medal for Architecture; Sustain Wales Awards 2016, Best Educational Building

The pioneering scheme for Burry Port Community Primary School in partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council brings together the town’s once separate infant and junior schools on one central site, in a design that celebrates Welsh materials and embraces innovation. Set over three principal buildings, the project is a mix of retroft and new-build. The main new building is the frst Passivhaus school in Wales and a new Bretstapel-constructed elliptical pod unites the new and old elements, creating a fexible and healthy mixed-use space using local timber. The original 1980s infant school has been rationalised and renovated, solving a number of environmental defects and creating four large, safe and secure open-plan classrooms, as well as nurturing multiuse spaces for teaching and messy play, breakout space and covered outdoor areas. Chris Loyn, Chair of RSAW Judges 2016, described the project as ‘an extremely sensitive, very carefully considered scheme that focuses on health and wellbeing and sets the bar higher for the schools of the future in Wales’.18 Burry Port Community Primary School aims to create a broad, balanced and relevant education for all pupils, in a safe and caring atmosphere. Burry Port is a small seaside town, fve miles to the west of Llanelli, in an area that is developing economically. The community is proud of its new school, which helps to give children a beter start in school life, and the project gave young people a beter understanding of design and construction. The scheme was 50% funded by the Welsh Government through its 21st Century Schools and Colleges Programme and 50% by Carmarthenshire County Council’s Modernising Education

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Figure 3.14 (top) Burry Port Community Primary School: pod ground-foor plan by Architype. Figure 3.15 (botom) Burry Port Community Primary School: site plan by Architype.

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Programme. The 21st Century Schools and Colleges Programme aimed to support the goals of the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The award-winning project began on-site in August 2014 and was ready for the new September term in 2015, encompassing a total internal foor area of 1,993m2 over three buildings. The £3.8-million project upgrades and expands school facilities, creating inspiring and healthy spaces for learning that deliver greatly improved comfort and energy performance and enhanced air quality through Passivhaus design. Passivhaus ofers a very healthy and comfortable environment for users. Children beneft from a constant supply of clean fltered air and optimised temperatures, which means the building will not

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overheat in summer or be draughty in winter. The need for artifcial heat and light is also kept to a minimum. The new elliptical pod that joins the buildings together is a showcase for Welsh materials and the construction technique Bretstapel. Bretstapel is an innovative way of building with timber that uses wooden dowels rather than glue or nails to hold the wood together. This helps produce a healthy indoor environment that is free from potentially harmful compounds. Bretstapel uses short lengths of sofwood timber studs, held together with hardwood dowels that swell and tighten with exchanging moisture content. The result is a solid timber panel, providing a dual purpose as a loadbearing wall or foor and an exposed internal fnish. In the case of the pod building, each panel forms a facet of the ellipse shape and provides a beautiful natural and healthy fnish.

Figure 3.16 (opposite) Burry Port Community Primary School: external colonnade to play area. Figure 3.17 (above) Burry Port Community Primary School: classroom. Figure 3.18 (lef) Burry Port Community Primary School: multipurpose main hall.

The two new buildings showcase the capabilities of Welsh timber and promote the material to the industry.

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Figure 3.19 (top) Burry Port Community Primary School: inside/outside corridor.

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Figure 3.20 (botom) Burry Port Community Primary School: site section by Architype.

Designing for Wellbeing

Renewable, low-carbon design and construction techniques are used throughout the scheme, in particular on the Welsh timber frame and façade. Besides the inherent excellent sustainable credentials, the two new buildings showcase the capabilities of Welsh timber and promote the material to the industry, with positive consequences to broaden the market for Welsh timber. The eco-specifcation continues beyond the construction aspects of the scheme, throughout the interior. Wood wool acoustic panels made from a mixture of pine, spruce and poplar wood-fbre strands, bound with magnesite and treated with natural salt, were specifed for the ceiling panels. Other materials have included recycled tyre mating in areas of heavy footfall and natural vegetable oil stains on interior ply fnishes. The refurbishment work has modernised the existing building and created large, secure, open-plan classrooms incorporating multiuse space, breakout space and access to a contained

and covered outdoor area. Strategic improvements made to the original 1980s building have ofered the existing part of the school a sustainable future. Solving a number of environmental defects and signifcantly improving the insulation has helped the school to moderate its energy consumption. The alterations made to the interior foor plan through the rationalisation of spaces have helped the school to use modern methods of teaching, with more space for creative pedagogies and secure space that helps both pupils and teacher feel safe. To deliver a sustainable legacy to the economy, the scheme provided: • • • •

4,450 training hours for apprentices, trainees and new entrants £1.3 million spend with local subcontractors 14 site visits and tours for pupils and teachers six work experience placements for year 11 students from local secondary schools.

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Chapter 4 Designing for Connectivity and Inclusion

Community Schools

If the basis of our new school brief is that every child should be able to fourish and succeed, it is important to understand the school as part of its wider seting. In this chapter we draw on inspiration from other researchers who have considered how schools can contribute to urban design to create connected and inclusive communities. How might we avoid being constrained by the ‘red line’ of the school site and think about greater integration between the school and its locality to inform the brief? This consideration includes: •

•

The connected school. Chapter 2 considered how the school could provide facilities that enriched the lives of families and local residents. In this chapter we look at how the school can be outward facing, connecting to its community and supporting active and inclusive neighbourhoods. The inclusive school. We examine how the school can be a welcoming, positive and accessible experience for all users so they can get the best from the facilities on ofer.

These two aspirations are fip sides of the same coin. Children learn everywhere. Education does not end at the school gate at the end of the afernoon. The Covid-19 pandemic made this evident when we saw school lessons being brought into living rooms and learning delivered at kitchen tables. The boundary between school and home has taken on a diferent form with greater use of digital resources and connectivity. Schools need to be outward looking, enriching their curriculum through local connections, and linking up with initiatives within their local communities that children, families, partners and employers are already part of. Many schools already do this successfully and others aspire to strengthening those links. The design brief should encourage them to think about how their buildings and sites can support their vision for connectivity. If schools are to be more outward looking, their physical environments also need to be inclusive, welcoming and inviting. The design of the buildings and grounds can support and enable strong relationships with families, partner agencies and local employers. However, schools at the centre of their community need to maintain the right balance between safeguarding – protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of children, young people and vulnerable adults – and openness, in order to promote inclusivity for all. This is a key design challenge.

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Schools need to be outward looking, enriching their curriculum through local connections.

Designing for Connectivity and Inclusion

Defning connectivity and inclusion In developing a new brief for school design, we must think about connectivity and inclusivity in their widest senses, because young people already do that. The Children’s Commissioner’s The Big Ask survey1 found that when thinking about their neighbourhoods, the built environment and shared hopes for regeneration, young people talked about open spaces, parks, places to swim, games to play and new, afordable, communal experiences: fun. Indeed, one of the most frequently used words in The Big Ask was ‘play’. The United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises ‘the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts’. 2 In The Big Ask, children said they wanted ‘places for kids to play and have fun things to do’ (girl, 6). They wanted to ‘go to the park or trampoline parks or skate parks, stuf like that, and clay sculpture places and clubs for kids like karate, football, gymnastics, kniting, dance, singing, piano classes, basketball and more stuf like that’ (girl, 10). 3 School environments and facilities could, and should, be able to enrich their neighbourhoods and support young people’s need for creative and fun spaces and activities. This joined-up thinking around localities is emphasised in Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing by Jenny Roe and Layla McCay,4 who have developed the Restorative Cities Framework. This considers large-scale interventions, such as transport infrastructure, and small-scale everyday events that happen on the street or in the local café. The framework takes the idea of an inclusive city and discusses six typologies. The six typologies of the Restorative Cities Framework • • • • • •

the green city: taking nature into the city core the blue city: maximising access to water for wellbeing the sensory city: addressing all fve senses the neighbourly city: supporting social cohesion the active city: supporting wellbeing through mobility the playable city: with opportunities for creativity and play for all ages

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Many of these elements are already fnding their way into discussions on school design, including the desire to promote active travel routes to schools and the importance of green space and the natural environment to young people’s social development and wellbeing. However, this framework goes much further, and provides two particular hooks to extend those conversations: • •

A sensory school: What if the school brief addresses all fve senses? A neighbourly school: What if the school brief mirrors neighbourhood interventions and connections?

Not only would this approach put school buildings, grounds and facilities at the heart of people and their communities, but it would drive them to add value to, and embed synergies with, existing initiatives that support wellbeing locally, so maximising their connectivity and cohesion. In his inspirational book Urban Playground, 5 Tim Gill argues that the presence of children of diferent ages being active and visible in the places where they live demonstrates the quality of urban habitats. Gill states that the notion of a broad, healthy diet of childhood experiences is central to child-friendly urban planning. The school brief needs to engage with this idea, exploring what ‘child friendly’ means not just in the context of ‘delivering’ education but in creating quality urban environments. Gill posits that a child-friendly city looks a lot like a sustainable city, as any city that fails to atract and retain families is a city whose long-term economic prospects are bleak. He also says that involving children directly in projects brings an enthusiasm, energy, creativity and openness to new ideas that can stimulate fresh, radical thinking and that we, as designers and educators, should act as advocates to turn children’s thinking into a workable reality. Urban Playground has a clear focus on action at the city level, drawing on Gill’s research, and experience, that in almost all cities he studied, the key catalyst for change was an individual with a clear vision and set of values about children and cities, with the authority to negotiate bureaucracies and get things done. Gill’s ‘hub and spoke’ model (Figure 4.1) for implementing child-friendly planning and design is based on the best approaches in the cities he studied. 

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d an s s e ur tor s ea ica M ind

Lin

ks to p tra lan pr ns ni og po ng res rt s po and ive lic ies

in ent ility stm b Inve nd mo a ces spa

Municipal official (and politician)

S part mart icip atio n

Figure 4.1 Urban Playground: the child-friendly cities ‘hub and spoke’ model.

Focus on residential neighbourhoods

Gill’s integrated approach is similar to the Restorative Cities Framework put forward by Roe and McCay: thinking broadly, and in connected ways, about what influences a locality and, in this case, how it impacts the quality of spaces and places for children. A historic model of good practice to draw on is the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) publication Sure Start: Every building matters – A visual guide to designing Sure Start Children’s Centres and other early years facilities and spaces (2008).6 Launched in 1998, Sure Start was driven by local partnerships of voluntary groups, parents and local authorities in the most deprived areas. Apart from five defined core areas, including outreach services, play and healthcare, each Sure Start Children’s Centre offered services based on locally defined needs. The CABE publication was developed to learn lessons from the first waves of designing and delivering Children’s Centres and it captured a number of key strands of what a Children’s Centre should be, as set out overleaf.

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Key strands of what a Children’s Centre should be Be inspiring to local children, their families and staf. Think about the diferent ways a Children’s Centre could enhance family life. • How could it nurture children’s imagination and build self-confdence? • How might it dramatically improve the delivery of combined services? • What would make it a stimulating place to work? Be highly valued by the community that it serves. Consider what would make a Children’s Centre the heart of a neighbourhood. • How might the wider community be involved in the design process? • What would make local people look upon the centre with pride? • How could it be used to raise awareness of valuable services such as health and Job Centre Plus? Be welcoming, accessible and easy to use. Imagine the diferent people that would beneft from a Children’s Centre. • What would make the building inviting to everyone? • What needs do diferent users have, and how can these be accommodated? • What would make the building easy to operate and move around in? Be sustainable and respect the environment. Refect on the long-term responsibilities of creating a new building. • How might rooms adapt to allow for a variety of uses, including health services? • What is needed to deliver social, health and educational development? • How could maintenance and running costs be minimised? Be fexible, supportive and responsive to changing needs. Consider how well-designed spaces might support diferent activities. • How might rooms adapt to allow for a variety of uses? • What is needed to deliver social and educational development? • How might spaces encourage interaction between staf and parents? • Where can reclaimed materials be used and which construction materials can be recycled?7

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While the headlines here are that Children’s Centres should be inspiring, valued, welcoming, accessible, sustainable, fexible and responsive, a thread runs through the prompts of being outward looking, child- and family-centred, promoting community, connectedness and inclusivity, and considering longterm sustainability. These core elements are still relevant to education setings and are embedded in our thinking about the new brief for schools.

Designing for connectivity and inclusion The book, Happy by Design: A Guide to Architecture and Mental Wellbeing8 sees author Ben Channon explore not just those elements of design that might frst spring to mind, such as light, comfort and control, but also nature, aesthetics, activity and psychology. Channon talks about bringing nature inside through planters and green walls, maximising views out of the building to connect to green space, water and trees, and using nature to educate, engage and involve. His chapter on aesthetics outlines some of what we have previously described as ‘delight’ in our briefng work with clients. Schools should be full of joy and inspiration, celebrating, engaging and valuing their users. There is no excuse for school buildings to be austere, functional and monotone. Every budget can deliver delight through, for example, great use of colour, display, views out and in, textures, materials, planting or artwork. Delight can also be achieved by providing ownership of spaces, inviting young people, families and community in and enabling them to feel part of the development of the school. Channon says designing healthy routes that include, for example, wider streets and bike-friendly paths, and connecting to other local facilities to support ease of access all promote activity for wellbeing. He also points out the need for spaces for ‘inactivity’, retreat and quiet spaces that allow you to step away from the stresses of everyday life. This type of connected, joined-up thinking is also starting to be refected in government policy around wellbeing. The ‘Education Staf Wellbeing Charter’ published by the Department for Education (DfE) in May 2021 says: The wellbeing of individuals is afected by many interrelated factors. This means that levels of low or high wellbeing are rarely due to just one factor, and that the issue should be looked at holistically.9

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Among the factors listed in the charter is: Environment: This is a broad category that in education can cover both: a) The organisational environment: including the physical environment (school or college facilities) and systems (such as the availability and efcaciousness of fexible working arrangements). This may also include the degree to which a member of staf identifes with organisational values. b) The policy environment: including the policies of the government of the day, and public perceptions of the status of the profession.10 This ‘holistic’ approach understands that schools need to look carefully at the interconnected issues of how a school operates (curriculum, resources, management and organisation) and its environment (location and community, sustainability and buildings) in developing a comprehensive view of what the brief needs to deliver. And if the environment can infuence the wellbeing of adults in schools, it can have serious implications for the inclusion and wellbeing of children, particularly those with additional needs. The physical environment plays a central role in children’s cognitive load and learning abilities.11 Researchers who have examined designed learning environments have found a variety of efects with implications for development. In more acoustically resonant classrooms, children had difculty not only with speech perception, but also short-term memory and social relationships.12 Morgan Sindall’s report ‘Building Beter Futures: Facilitating Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)’13 argues that there is a need for open innovation, knowledge sharing and a combined commitment to delivering the very best solution possible for future generations. Morgan Sindall begins with the DfE’s Building Bulletin 104 area guidelines for SEND and alternative provision,14 the document that sets out non-statutory building area guidelines for ages 3–19 in special schools, alternative provision, specially resourced provision and units, and asks whether it is fexible enough. Their conclusion is that although Building Bulletin 104 was identifed as a useful tool, many of the stakeholders they spoke to would like to see increased fexibility and a greater focus on the importance of a bespoke solution, which responds to children’s very varied SEND requirements. The Morgan Sindall document has fve ‘key takeaways’ that impact how we create a new type of brief for inclusivity for all. They are:

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Schools need to look carefully at the interconnected issues of how a school operates and its environment.

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• •

•

•

•

Flexibility is key: creating great learning spaces for young people with SEND requires creativity and imagination. Bringing end users on the journey: a lack of focus on the importance of conversations between project stakeholders at the initial design and planning stage meant that headteachers ofen felt isolated and removed from the early stage of the process even though they ofen had expertise and insight which could positively beneft the design process and proposals. Young people with SEND can experience disruption and trauma if change is not carefully handled and communicated. Delivery teams need to engage with building users and equip them with the tools to communicate – creating a positive and collaborative experience for everyone. Prioritising the design stage: current SEND school build and design processes mean that there is a shortfall in the amount of time dedicated to the design stage at the start of the process. Understanding the cohort: commissioners and the entire delivery team need to develop a deep understanding of the student cohort in order to ensure successful delivery. This will enable an in-depth appreciation of SEND needs in individual areas and the bespoke nature of the specifc challenges that each area might face. The knowledge gap: New platforms are needed to share knowledge gained through the delivery of SEND schools.

It is right that we take the greatest care in designing SEND schools as they provide important spaces for some of our most vulnerable children and their families. This is traditionally what we think of as ‘inclusive learning environments’. Yet it is equally important that every school – not just those specifcally designed for children with SEND – is able to draw on these important lessons. Mainstream schools will also have young people, staf and community users with a wide range of physical, emotional and development needs, sometimes undiagnosed or uncategorised. We cannot design for every single individual but we should expect that every space and place is accessible and usable by all. That includes creating a welcoming environment for those who have not had a good school experience previously, creating spaces that give ownership to users, making them feel comfortable to give of their best, as well as understanding the impact that light, colour, furniture, smells and sounds will have on users. We are starting, for example, to see greater interest in trauma-informed design in school setings, with needs escalated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and this is an area for further research.

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Bringing end users on the design journey connects directly to the Children’s Commissioner’s The Big Ask fndings and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children have the right to an education that enables them to fulfl their potential. They also have the right to express their opinions and be listened to. Young people feel strongly about a host of issues, including those to do with their education, families, communities and the future of the planet. The briefng process provides two opportunities to give them agency and use their voice: • •

an inclusive design process that harnesses their interests and understanding of what makes child-friendly spaces and places a connected curriculum that uses the build project, the completed building, wider locality and design team partners to enrich their learning experience and provide opportunities to develop new skills.

Many school build projects do already involve young people in the process, and this is to be commended, but we would urge that the process of creating the brief should include a clear commitment to include young people at every stage in every case. There are excellent resources available that link the design process comprehensively to the curriculum through initiatives such as Design, Engineer, Construct! (DEC),15 which ofers formal study programmes for students aged 11–18, leading to recognised qualifcations in building and infrastructure design through real-world applications of science, technology, engineering and maths. This opportunity for involvement not only provides direct social value but also supports delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.16 These 17 goals provide a shared global blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. Goal 4, ‘to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’, is underpinned by a series of targets and indicators. Target 4.7 is to: ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non‑violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.17 The 2022 report ‘Target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence in Schools in England’, by Douglas Bourn and Jenny Hatley, found:

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A feature of many of the initiatives has been the desire from teachers to support approaches that move from just acquiring knowledge about a particular feld, say human rights, peace or the environment, to one that is seen as being part of a distinctive and participatory pedagogical approach. This means a crucial topic such as climate change is not just seen as an additional curriculum subject but rather as a thread that runs through multiple subjects linked to a broader social purpose and to learner‑centred pedagogies that support pupils to be more proactive in bringing about positive change.18 A school build project of any size, and specifcally the participatory requirements of developing the brief, provide an excellent platform to support school staf in delivering that thread that runs through all aspects of the curriculum with a focus on climate change and sustainability. If we combine Gill’s ideas for designing child-friendly places, Channon’s view that we can design buildings that can make people happier, and Roe and McCay’s idea of designing for the senses, then we put people at the heart of the process. We look to meet their needs and those of their wider community. We recognise site-specifc needs and identity, give users agency in the process, ask what works for them and design accordingly. We believe this botom-up approach, joined up and with a focus on people, place and purpose, is much more likely to create a brief that delivers schools with connectivity and inclusivity at their heart. We would summarise our approach to a connected and inclusive school as shown in Figure 4.2. Figure 4.2 The connected and inclusive school.

An outward-looking school connected to its locality and community An inclusive school environment that delivers equity and equality

An engaged community of users who have agency in design decisions

An integrated curriculum on climate change and sustainability A welcoming school that is safe and inviting for all users

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Designing for connectivity and inclusion: key points for the design brief 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

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Appoint a project connectivity & inclusion champion to advocate for and involve children at every stage of the process. Carry out a site-specifc mapping exercise to identify how the school connects and can add value to other projects and facilities in its locality. Include explicit requirements or a vision for those issues that impact on user wellbeing, including the environment, management and organisation, resources and participation. Adopt an expectation of inclusivity in the widest sense – designing for all the senses. Have a focus on meeting the particular requirements of those users with identifed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Embed a child- and family-centred approach and ensure fun and delight are seen as important and valued. Get the right balance between safe and welcoming to ensure new school buildings are inviting to all. Integrate the project itself into the curriculum, as well as designing the building for the curriculum, to enrich the pupil experience and deliver ongoing benefts.

Case Study 7

The Castle Tower School complex, Ballymena

Location: 50 Larne Road Link, Ballymena, Northern Ireland Internal area: 10,006m² Site area: 5 hectares Occupancy: 320 students Age range of occupants: 3–19 years Client: Education Authority Northern Ireland Design team: Isherwood + Ellis (architect); Felix O’Hare (contractor); Taylor & Boyd (structural engineers); VB Evans & Co (quantity surveyor); WYG Consulting (mechanical and electrical engineers); Edmond Shipway (project management); VS Furniture/Alpha Marketing (Belfast) (design team/furniture, ftings and equipment) Milestone days: completion August 2017 Project cost: £16 million Predicted or in-use operational energy data (kWh/m2 /y): 124.34

Figure 4.3 Castle Tower School: sensory room.

Awards/accreditation: winner in RIBA Northern Ireland Award 2018; winner in RSUA Design Awards 2018

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Figure 4.4 (lef) Castle Tower School: classroom. Figure 4.5 (opposite, top lef) Castle Tower School: sketch section. Figure 4.6 (opposite, top right) Castle Tower School: central atrium stair. Figure 4.7 (opposite, botom) Castle Tower School: covered arrival space.

The Castle Tower School complex, Ballymena, is a state-of-the-art special educational needs (SEN) learning facility. It is designed to cater for around 300 enrolled pupils aged between 3 and 19 years, with a variety of learning difculties and physical disabilities. The facility replaced the old Castle Tower School, and it also amalgamated three other local SEN schools – Loughan School, Dunfane School and Beechgrove School. The desire for a new type of school, combined with a lack of previous case-study examples, meant all initial project development had to begin with a completely blank slate. To fulfl the desired criteria, Headteacher Raymond McFeeters and key staf members worked closely with the architects Isherwood + Ellis and various stakeholders to carefully shape ideas based on extensive research before approval. The new school complex now provides a full range of comprehensive learning facilities. These include fexible classrooms, science labs, art and music rooms, a food technology kitchen, lecture theatre and dedicated social areas.

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In addition, more specialist facilities, such as a hydrotherapy pool, sensory spaces and outdoor play equipment, are also available. At Castle Tower School, the aim is to provide the necessary tools to help pupils develop their individual potential, at the same time instilling a culture of lifelong learning into adulthood. This is especially challenging when dealing with a wide age range of pupils and their extremely complex and varied learning capabilities. A truly fexible learning environment is vital for success. Thanks to the new Castle Tower School complex, Mid and East Antrim can now cement a reputation as an innovative, creative and fexible place of learning opportunities – where pupils with special educational needs can realise their individual potential and prevail with confdence throughout adult life.

Designing for Connectivity and Inclusion

At Castle Tower School, the aim is to provide the necessary tools to help pupils develop their individual potential.

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Case Study 8

Les Quennevais School, Jersey Location: St Brelade, Jersey Internal area: 11,450m2 (whole school; each science balcony is 137.5m2) Site area: 5.5 hectares Occupancy: 850 students Age range of occupants: 7–11 years Client team: Les Quennevais School/Jersey Property Holdings Design team: Pick Everard (architect); Roc (contractor); Red Apple Designs (furniture, ftings and equipment); Nexus (ICT); TNG Consulting Engineers (mechanical and electrical engineers) Milestone days: the school opened for pupils in September 2020 and was ofcially opened in June 2021 Project cost: £45 million (science balcony £35,000) Sustainability or wellbeing metric, data or certifcation: BREEAM Very Good Awards/accreditations: Jersey Design Awards, commended; Education Estates Inspiring Spaces 2021, highly commended

Les Quennevais School in Jersey, constructed in 2020, had been provided with two structurally sound balconies of classroom size, accessed directly from the science classrooms. Subsequently, the school wanted to enhance these balconies to support teaching and learning, with a particular nod towards local identity and the farming strengths of the island. The school design was already highly focused on two areas: • •

student wellbeing and creating exciting places to learn bringing the outside in and the inside out.

A tree had been located as a key focus on the ground foor of the building, visible from the ground and frst foors: the breathing heart of the building. The concept brief of ‘exciting places to learn’ had led to the provision of food

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The dome creates a space sheltered from the elements, but also one that could create new environments and humidities.

Figure 4.8 (opposite) Les Quennevais School: science balcony. Figure 4.9 (lef) Les Quennevais School: outdoor classroom.

tech labs and tasting rooms, an immersive space and a science super-lab. The brief for the balconies was to deliver two environments. The frst would focus on growing plants and exploring environmental ideas and the second on non-subject-specifc learning. To accommodate all weather conditions, a covered dome space was located on one balcony and an uncovered, external demonstration and growing area on the other. For the uncovered zone, the set-up is designed to be comfortable and fexible. Heavy-duty wooden seating benches can be arranged for formal and informal set-ups. A large demonstration bench can be used by students and teachers alike as a space to crowd around, sit at or observe.

The dome creates a space sheltered from the elements, but also one that could create new environments and humidities, such as rainforests using steam and heat, allowing students to physically experience ‘world’ zones and climate change. Both balconies had to provide space for teaching skills relatable to the island of Jersey, which has a large farming community, equally as prominent as the travel industry. This teaching needed to address new and old growing technologies, as well as climate change impact. The familiar growing beds sit alongside new provision such as hydroponic farming, with hydroponic beds and walls. Traditional growing mediums allow the students to consider crop rotation, soil degradation, pest control, food chain analysis and organic versus chemical conditions, for example. New, more sustainable growing methods and environmental impact can

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be considered side by side. The space creates zones with the hydroponic approach; the dome environment with changing heat and humidities, as well as energy-measurement equipment. Solar power was included to pump the hydroponic beds; weather and energy-measuring kits were provided, as well as equipment for night-time star gazing. With Jersey being an island with limited manufacturing capacity, it was difcult to get ‘local’ manufacturers for all of the work, but it was sourced from UK companies with some island input. Inclusive design for all abilities and subjects was key. Both balconies have a clearable, central space

providing a blank canvas for any teaching subject. The art and photography departments are regular users of the facilities. However, it also enables an array of contextualised learning options for any subject, such as measuring growth rates and statistical variations in maths or food sciences, or a Romeo and Juliet balcony for English or drama. Student wellbeing is enhanced – not just by the diversity of the space, and its diference from the rest of the school environment, but also by making provision for quiet, but managed, outdoor spaces to allow students and teachers to escape and breathe a bit away from the hustle of a large, busy school.

Figure 4.10 (lef) Les Quennevais School: indoor science super-lab. Figure 4.11 (opposite, top) Les Quennevais School: aerial sketch view showing roofop balconies. Figure 4.12 (opposite, botom) Les Quennevais School: students enjoying the balcony.

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Case Study 9

Wintringham Primary Academy, St Neots, Cambridgeshire Location: St Neots, Cambridgeshire Internal area: 3,615m2 Site area: 2.77 hectares Occupancy: 708 children, 60 teachers and support staf Age range of occupants: 5–11 years (pupils) Client team: Urban + Civic, Cambridgeshire County Council, The Diamond Learning Partnership Trust Design team: dRMM (architect); Morgan Sindall (main contractor); consultants: Peter Dann Consulting Engineers, Engenuiti, Roger Parker Associates, Faithful and Gould, Turley, Bradley Murphy Design, Stroma, MLM, Hann Tucker Associates, ATIC, Kershaw Mechanical Services, KLH Milestone days: completion October 2020 Project cost: £11 million Predicted or in-use operational energy data (kWh/m2 /y): 180 Predicted on-site renewable energy generation (kWh/m2 /y): 1.9 Awards/accreditations: RIBA East Sustainability Prize, 2022; shortlisted for the Civic Trust Awards, 2022; highly commended in the Woods Awards, 2022

Wintringham Primary Academy forms a key part of the frst phase of Wintringham, a 205-hectare urban extension of St Neots town centre delivered by Urban + Civic. The school is the focal point of the new market square, a bold civic building that serves as a social connector for the local community. The school embraces principles of naturalness to provide a healthy and conducive learning environment that prioritises wellbeing and sustainability. The design ofers a variety of outdoor learning experiences and indoor teaching spaces that connect directly to nature. The building’s innovative arrangement responds to Cambridgeshire County Council’s desire to provide an efcient and nurturing learning space that supports the diversity of its pupils. The design is organised as a school in the round with two stacked levels of classrooms arranged around a landscaped courtyard, known as ‘the grove’. As well as providing easy navigation, this biophilic approach allows all classrooms to beneft from natural light from both the internal and external aspects. The school welcomed the fuid, multiuse spaces that enable project-based learning and facilitate diferent teaching opportunities. Individual classrooms are combined into clusters of three, promoting peer learning among the year groups. ‘Sof spots’ within the timber structure allow for future fexibility for how classrooms are grouped. dRMM worked closely with Urban + Civic, Cambridgeshire County Council and the Diamond Learning Partnership Trust to develop the vision for this £11 million project. The brief called for a threeform entry primary school for up to 708 children, including a nursery that could be run independently

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The school embraces principles of naturalness to provide a healthy and conducive learning environment that prioritises wellbeing and sustainability.

Figure 4.13 Wintringham Primary Academy: view of the grove from the second-foor circulation spaces.

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if required. Delivered by a team headed by contractor Morgan Sindall, the 3,615m2 school was completed in 2020 afer a construction programme of just 14 months during the pandemic.

focal point in the development. Externally, the school is clad in a colour loop of glazed ceramic panels inspired by the seasonal colour variations found in woodlands.

dRMM’s role as lead designer was to establish a common ground among the needs of the multiheaded client, from which a coordinated design concept could grow. Close consultation with Alison Revell from Cambridgeshire County Council and Tracy Bryden, Wintringham’s Executive Headteacher, allowed the studio to develop a collective vision, drawing on years of educational expertise.

To enhance wellbeing, dRMM prioritised natural light, ventilation and access to the surrounding landscape in response to the school’s afnity with naturalness. Wellness was a motivating factor in the decision to ensure timber was visible throughout the building. dRMM were inspired by studies caried out by the Medical University of Graz which found that pupils studying in exposed timber environments experience lower heart rates and reduced levels of stress.19 Cross-laminated timber was chosen for the superstructure because of its low-carbon credentials – the superstructure sequesters 166 metric tonnes of carbon (A1-A5), with 49% of the carbon impact of a RIBA 2030 ‘business as usual’ school. 20

The school plays an important role in establishing the new Wintringham Park Community. It achieves this through its prominent position at the head of the public square; the lack of boundary fence enables school activity to spill out into this space. The school’s colourful cladding makes it a natural

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Figure 4.14 (opposite) Wintringham Primary Academy: elevated view showing play spaces, surrounding landscape and the Eddington development. Figure 4.15 (above) Wintringham Primary Academy: dRMMdesigned learning spaces that open directly on to the perimeter playground, maintaining connection with the outdoors.

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Figure 4.16 Wintringham Primary Academy: circulation was positioned around the grove, providing a constant view to nature.

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Figure 4.17 Wintringham Primary Academy: axonometric showing internal layout and the surrounding context of Eddington.

Impressively for a building designed in 2017, it exceeds the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge for embodied carbon for new-build schools. From the start of the project, passive environmental principles informed the school’s distinct avocadoshaped arrangement which allows for learning and circulation spaces to be easily cross-ventilated. Inclusivity comes from the way the school is designed so that learning can take place throughout the entire building, with fuid, multiuse spaces that enable change and facilitate diferent teaching approaches. With outdoor learning in the grove, informal learning in the breakout spaces and formalised learning in the classrooms, Wintringham Primary Academy ofers a variety that caters to the difering learning needs of every pupil.

A multipurpose school hall is positioned at the front of the building, facilitating ease of community use out of school hours. This ensures the building is inclusive for the local community by accommodating a wide range of local events for the growing population in Wintringham. With Wintringham Primary Academy, dRMM have drawn on their extensive experience in the education sector, gained through projects such as Kingsdale School, Clapham Manor Primary School and Four Dwellings Primary Academy, to deliver an all-timber school that provides an inspirational and positive learning experience for children through its integration into its natural surroundings and its emerging community.

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Chapter 5 Indicators and Evaluation

Community Schools

There has been an ongoing debate about the role of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) in school capital projects for many years. The education buildings sector is geting beter at measuring success and understanding what could be beter but there is still no agreed model of how this should be achieved. In this chapter we look at the indicators for healthy, inclusive and sustainable schools and how we can create a baseline for ongoing evaluation. In particular, we consider: • •

• •

Why measure – the purpose of developing and collecting data on how our school buildings are performing. What to measure – how to measure what maters; there is a tendency to gather information on the things that are obvious or easy to capture. We need to develop frameworks and tools that provide the right measures for success for each project. How to measure – we need to develop new ways of recording user interaction with school buildings and the impact that has on them. What we do with the information – there is litle point in gathering data if we do not put it to use, or it cannot contribute to continuously improving the way we design, use and deliver our schools.

While indicators should use consistent metrics for what is important to the school user, priorities will inevitably be infuenced by current drivers for change, trends and infuences from policy, funding and delivery requirements. At present the issues highlighted in the school capital sphere include: •

•

•

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Sustainability. The UK government has a legal target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.1 The need to design and build to meet the global climate challenge is matched by the level of interest and participation of young people in calling for change in the curriculum and their learning environments. Bringing these drivers together, to make young people informed clients and users of their buildings, can create ownership and interest that delivers long-term impact. Managing costs. We are constantly looking at how to do more for less. While capital funding has a focus on the initial build, the current economic environment means that users are becoming increasingly interested in how they can operate their buildings to reduce soaring energy bills and compensate for a lack of recurrent funding for maintenance and upkeep, which can impact available funds for education. Digital participation and engagement. The Covid-19 pandemic provided evidence of both the power and the limitations of digitised education and engagement. There has been an exponential growth in the use of technology

Priorities will inevitably be infuenced by current drivers for change, trends and infuences from policy, funding and delivery requirements.

Indicators and Evaluation

•

•

•

to gather information in new ways. Digital platforms allow stakeholders to contribute to consultation and engagement events in ways that are more convenient for their work and family commitments, as well as travel restrictions. Data gathering. Smart meters provide the opportunity to gather more sophisticated data about our school environments than ever before, but there is litle agreement about whether and how to share and use this to further our understanding and make our buildings beter for their users. Standards. New school funding programmes in England, Wales and Scotland have seen a change in eligibility criteria, including an expectation of zerocarbon solutions, modern methods of construction and an increased emphasis on the importance of outdoor spaces. Health and wellbeing. There has been more research, debate and interest in how buildings impact their users in terms of their physical and mental health and wellbeing, and the connection of health and wellbeing to educational outcomes.

Developing and agreeing consistent indicators for the sector that capture the widest possible set of useful data is a challenge but this should not stop us looking to develop evaluation frameworks that support our understanding of current and future buildings. The case studies at the end of this chapter demonstrate how the evaluation of previous projects has supported a clear understanding of the clients’ requirements, writen into the brief and at the heart of the design process, and has provided a strong basis for ongoing evaluation of project success in relation to delivering the wider vision of the school.

Defning indicators – why and what we measure Over the past 20 years of school building programmes, there has been a lack of formal, shared post-occupancy evaluation evidencing how efective the resulting school buildings and grounds are for their users. While data has been gathered for some individual projects, no collective understanding has been established of the measures that should be used or avoided, or the overall impacts of the investment. It could be argued that this is a feature of the construction market where evaluation can throw up potentially sensitive information that may be considered commercially confdential. However, the lack of a national or international POE framework, or at the very least an agreed set of key themes that should be evaluated, has meant there is no coherent approach to gathering and sharing project information.

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Current Well-being Key dimensions

How we measure them

Income and Wealth

Subjective Well-being

Work and Job Quality

Safety

Housing

Work-life Balance

Health

Social Connections

Knowledge and Skills

Civil Engagement

Environment Quality

Averages

Inequalties between groups

Inequalties between top and bottom performers

Deprivations

and bottom performers

Resources for Future Well-being Key dimensions

How we measure them

Natural Capital

Human Capital

Stocks

Flows

Economic Capital

Social Capital

Risk Factors

Resilience

Some construction frameworks now require proof to be provided that specifc requirements have been met, such as sustainability in terms of fexibility, adaptability and energy performance in use. However, a more systematic approach is needed across the industry, and not just in the education sector, that links user requirements at the briefng stage with a measurement of outcomes against those priorities. Taking our key themes of community, sustainability, wellbeing and inclusion, building them into a new type of brief, and then measuring outcomes against those aspirations is important to drive continual improvement. This does not mean one size fts all and, while there may be core metrics that sit across all projects and help to inform national and local policy, there must be space for

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Figure 5.1 OECD Framework for Measuring Well-Being and Progress.

Indicators and Evaluation

each project to set its own specifc measures around sustainability, wellbeing, inclusion and community that refect the particular needs of their users and the locality. There are, of course, existing high-level indicators that create a good starting point for establishing that measurement framework. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries. Its Framework for Measuring Well-Being and Progress2 (Figure 5.1) is based on recommendations made in 2009 by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, to which the OECD contributed signifcantly. It also refects earlier OECD work and various national initiatives in the feld. This framework is built around three distinct components: • • •

current wellbeing inequalities in wellbeing outcomes resources for future wellbeing.

While recognising the challenge, the OECD is looking to bridge the gap between wellbeing metrics and its policy intervention, using the dimensions and measures with purpose, providing analysis and developing beter metrics. This type of high-level framework may look far removed from an individual school brief, but we can learn from this type of whole-system approach to understanding the factors that impact on success. This approach looks not just to capture a fairly narrow snapshot of current information, but to develop an understanding of the interrelated issues that impact on resources for future wellbeing. This is important as the successful aspirations of many school briefs will depend on factors that may appear to be beyond the scope of the building or physical environment, such as successful recruitment and retention of staf; sustained admission numbers; adequate school budgets and resources; recurring income from community use of facilities, etc. Some of these factors may be largely outside the control of the individual school, more infuenced by government policy, funding regimes or population growth, for example, but will also remain untracked if energy performance and user satisfaction alone are captured. A school project can support wider aspirations around environmental, economic and social capital, with the brief refecting aspirations, for example, to provide: access to green space and outdoor activities; vocational training linked to local skills needs; community leisure and social experiences; and opportunities for intergenerational learning that supports family relationships.

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Figure 5.2 (opposite, lef) The Scotish Government’s Place Standard Tool.

The Scotish Government’s Place Principle (see Chapter 1) provides an example of that joined-up mindset, acknowledging that what happens in a locality will have an impact on the success of projects within it, including school builds. The approach was developed by partners in the public and private sectors, the third sector and communities, to help them develop a clear vision for their place. It promotes a shared understanding of place, and the need to take a more collaborative approach to a place’s services and assets to achieve beter outcomes for people and communities. The principle encourages and enables local fexibility to respond to issues and circumstances in diferent places.  

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The Place Standard Tool (Figure 5.2) provides a 14-point framework to enable partners and stakeholders to have a shared conversation about a place and to understand what works well and what would work beter for them. This can be used to drive action to create beter places. In Wales, the seven wellbeing goals put in place to improve social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing are another national initiative that supports local collaboration. They are contained in law under the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 20153 which sets out the ways in which specifed public bodies must work, and work together, to improve the wellbeing of the nation. The seven wellbeing goals are underpinned by 46 national indicators that are reported on annually.4 This clear marker of what Wales sees as the important elements of its wellbeing strategy keeps the focus on the current and future impact of policies and provides a clear benchmark for how public sector organisations should work together and with their communities to manage and measure change. Embedded in a national identity, these goals and indicators support wider conversations about, for example, what a ‘healthy Wales’ looks like and the role of schools in delivering that agenda. This helps to create a shared understanding. This approach is incorporated into the new briefng framework we put forward in Chapter 6. As outlined in Chapter 3, Scotland’s approach to wellbeing through Geting It Right for Every Child and the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators5 similarly provides consistent goals against which to review the experience of children and families. With such initiatives in place nationally and locally, and already embedded in school planning, they naturally feed into the work of creating a school brief, adding a real focus on the agreed outcomes for young people in a locality. This holistic approach to the needs of children, families and communities is further strengthened by the 10 Guiding Principles of the Scotish Government’s Learning Estates Strategy,6 which give clear strategic direction and create a framework around which the school brief can be created and success measured. The Guiding Principles, which fow into the Learning Estates Strategies of individual local authorities, are also a way to report progress, and capture good practice tied to local and national priorities. The Guiding Principles provide a high-level brief, and expectations covering process, management and spaces, and they take a whole-system view of what learning estates should be and what capital projects need to deliver.

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The Scotish Government’s Learning Estate Strategy: 10 Guiding Principles 1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

6.

7. 8.

9. 10.

Learning environments should support and facilitate excellent joined-up learning and teaching to meet the needs of all learners. Learning environments should support the wellbeing of all learners, meet varying needs to support inclusion and support transitions for all learners. The learning estate should be well managed and maintained, making the best of existing resources, maximising occupancy and representing and delivering best value. The condition and suitability of learning environments should support and enhance their function. Learning environments should serve the wider community and where appropriate be integrated with the delivery of other public services in line with the place principle. Learning environments should be greener, more sustainable, allow safe and accessible routes for walking, cycling and wheeling and be digitally enabled. Outdoor learning and the use of outdoor learning environments should be maximised. Good consultation about learning environments, direct engagement with learners and communities about their needs and experiences, and an involvement in decision-making processes should lead to beter outcomes for all. Collaboration across the learning estate, and collaboration with partners in localities, should support maximising its full potential.  Investment in Scotland’s learning estate should contribute towards improving learning outcomes and support sustainable and inclusive economic growth.7

The 10 Guiding Principles are supported by a number of metrics, including spatial (area) and fnancial (capital cost) for the Learning Estate Investment Programme, specifcally created to deliver the national aspiration. Learning from earlier funding programmes is fed into the model. For example, the latest funding round has emphasised the external learning environment, drawing on lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic and greater awareness of how the use of outdoor spaces can support learning and social activities and contribute to user wellbeing.

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Figure 5.3 The Scotish Futures Trust’s Briefng and Evaluation Framework process fow.

The Scotish Futures Trust and Ryder architects have published a Briefng and Evaluation Framework,8 developed to support anyone embarking on any form of infrastructure investment to beter defne, develop and evaluate the outcomes they are seeking to achieve (Figure 5.3). This is widely used within school capital projects to develop strategic priorities and provide clarity around the project journey for client teams. These high-level frameworks provide an excellent starting point for developing bespoke local and project-specifc indicators. They set strategic objectives and priorities, embedding them within the brief and enabling them to be monitored, measured and updated across the life of the building. They are not looking at what can easily be measured – they are looking at what should be measured because it is important and will deepen understanding of how we use our school buildings and how we make them beter. They encourage users to think not just about learning environments but about healthy, inclusive, sustainable community schools.

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Project-specifc priorities should be developed and agreed at the briefng stage, along with qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure success. Qualitative indicators might include user satisfaction, including how the building makes users feel, how well it supports their learning objectives or professional practices, and how inclusive and accessible it is to a range of users. Quantitative measures have largely focused on environmental aspects of the building in operation and this provides important information about efciencies and whether users are geting best value from their building. While some aspects of the brief may be harder to quantify, and numbers alone will not provide evidence of the quality of the user experience, it is worth considering whether there is scope to gather data that could be useful. Examples of quantitative measures might include: •

• •

•

•

•

•

• •

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Spaces that are welcoming, promote ownership and raise aspirations for all users in support of connectivity and inclusion – measured by individual and group user numbers and range of activities supported Spaces that allow access to a range of services and learning opportunities for specifc groups – measured by the range of services and courses ofered Providing opportunities for family and intergenerational learning in support of family cohesion and wellbeing – measured by the number of family learning events and the age range of learners Spaces that promote collaborative working between staf and with partners and employers – measured by cross-curricular activities and the number of partnerships/connections with outside organisations Spaces that support transitions and raise atainment and achievement for young people – measured by pupil atainment and the number of learners progressing successfully to employment or learning elsewhere Spaces that promote a range of learning and pedagogical approaches to allow for variety and fexibility – measured by ease of timetabling spaces to accommodate group sizes and teaching and learning styles External spaces that engage and support learning and provide high-quality social experiences – measured by the number of curriculum areas using outside spaces and the range of curriculum and social activities Space to celebrate – community, culture, achievements of young people – measured by the number and range of events accommodated Inclusive spaces that support all users, whatever their needs – measured by the ability to accommodate all user needs within the building and in external areas

Project‑specifc priorities should be developed and agreed at the briefng stage, along with qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure success.

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• • • •

An atractive place to work that supports the recruitment and retention of the best staf – measured by recruitment and retention statistics A zero-carbon building that delivers in-use energy targets – measured by utilities usage Spaces that are efcient in terms of revenue, operation, repair and maintenance costs – measured by fnancial benchmarks High-quality digital infrastructure that promotes inclusion and connectivity for the whole school community – measured by the level of hardware, sofware and infrastructure usage or improvements.

It is important that both qualitative and quantitative measures are used to give a holistic view of how the building is working for its users and whether it is delivering in all areas. Every school brief should have its own set of indicators, created by the project team and tailored to that school community. The process of discussing, developing and agreeing these with stakeholders reinforces the importance of thinking through what wellbeing, connectivity and inclusion, community and sustainability mean for those specifc users. Importantly, these indicators should not be set in stone. They should be used and reviewed regularly and updated if necessary.

Using indicators in the design process – how we measure and what we do with the information Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is the traditional term for reviewing how a building is performing once it is in use. However, there are no universally agreed approaches or processes for school projects and, indeed, as information gathered can be commercially and contractually sensitive, there has sometimes been a reluctance to share either the POE frameworks used or their outcomes. Too ofen, a POE is seen as a one-of requirement, delivered 12 months afer the building is completed and never undertaken again. Each project should look to develop a POE methodology that works for its own indicators. This might include: •

•

Building Performance: Gathering building performance information, including in-use energy data, interrogated against design expectations and to gauge value for money, and benchmarked against similar buildings. User satisfaction: User satisfaction data gathered via questionnaires, workshops and discussions, to understand how the building is performing

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•

•

against the indicators set at the start of the project. This might include pupils, staf, parents and community users reviewing specifc issues around how the building is supporting learning and other uses, and might provide opportunities to discuss the learning environment at regular events, such as school governor meetings, parent consultations, senior leadership planning meetings and staf continuous professional development events. The POE process should ideally include the design team responsible for the project, using their expertise to gather and review information and determine any action to be taken. Investigation: A deep dive into emerging issues to fully understand what is working well and less well. For example, if there is an issue identifed, is it happening throughout the building or just in specifc areas? Is it a design or a management issue? Does it occur every day, week, term, infrequently? What do users think is the cause of the problem and what are their suggestions for solving it? Review and action planning: What do we need to do as a result of the information gathered, and do we need to add to or change our indicators? Are we able to gather all the information we need or do we need to put new data-capture tools in place through the year? Can we make changes to the environment as a result of the POE? Can we share what has been learnt with others?

A robust POE process, linked to the school’s annual planning cycle, will support budgeting, improvement and development planning. The case studies below include a range of projects that have established bespoke success measures as part of their brief. Marjorie McClure School (see Case Study 11) has a comprehensive set of inclusive design principles that are specifc to user needs. The Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai (see Case Study 12) has a brief that marries tradition and local context with a strong emphasis on wellbeing and environmental excellence. Oban High School (see Case Study 10) has a curriculum linked to its local context and the needs of a wide range of users, and this case study is focused on their post-occupancy evaluation process and fndings.

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Developing and using indicators: key points for the design brief and beyond 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Be a building user, not just a building occupier: understand all aspects of your environment and your interaction with it. Think widely about what is important to your school community in terms of learning space, furniture and equipment, comfort, site, access, safety and security, identity, relationship with the community, inclusion and wellbeing. Develop a broader language around school buildings: instead of talking only about how we create beter learning environments, let’s talk about how we deliver healthy, inclusive, sustainable community schools for all users. Evaluate how your space – indoor and outdoor – is working: create opportunities for regular conversations with pupils, staf, parents, community and governors to capture their views. Plan Continuing Professional Development events with staf. Record and report on what you fnd so that you are continually sharing, adding and keeping the conversation live and relevant. Change is ongoing: buildings are not static. They can be changed and tweaked to suit. Small changes can sometimes make a big diference if you know what you need to do. Do not be afraid to adapt your building to suit your needs. Create or maintain a relationship with the design team, regardless of contractual relationships. Collaborate on how the building is working for users and share your expertise and understanding about what is working well and less well. Create your own indicators: think about how to express wellbeing, sustainability and inclusion in a way that refects your community; measure and report against these indicators so they are meaningful to your school. Have an evaluation process that works for you and links to your wider school planning and improvement framework.

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Case Study 10

Oban High School, Oban Location: Soroba Road, Oban, Scotland Internal area: 13,762m2 Site area: 4.69 hectares Occupancy: 1,300 Age range of occupants: 11–18 years, plus staf (all age ranges) Client team: Argyll and Bute Council and Hub North Scotland Design team: Ryder Architecture (architect); Morrison Construction (contractor); Currie and Brown (cost and project management); TUV SUD (mechanical and electrical engineers); Fairhurst (civil and structural engineers); TGP (landscape) Milestone days: operational start date April 2018 Project cost: £35.6 million Awards/accreditations: Scotish Design Awards 2020 nominee

Oban High School is a secondary school of around 1,300 pupils covering the area of Oban, Lorn and the Isles. Ryder Architecture were commissioned by Hub North Scotland and Argyll and Bute Council to design the new school and playing felds on the site of the existing Oban High in August 2014. The school has a curriculum based on a strong understanding of the context in which it operates, with connections to culture and tourism, forestry, fshing, agriculture and engineering. There was a commitment to nurture and develop pupils’ social, emotional and vocational skills and experiences, and to deliver the highest possible standard of learning for every pupil, no mater their level of knowledge or ability. In addition, the school was to serve the needs of the local community throughout the day and evening, providing a truly accessible and welcoming destination.

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Figure 5.4 (opposite, top) Oban High School: seating stairs. Figure 5.5 (opposite, botom) Oban High School: library. Figure 5.6 (right) Oban High School: ground-foor plan.

The school was to serve the needs of the local community throughout the day and evening, providing a truly accessible and welcoming destination. Ryder were commissioned by Argyll and Bute Council to undertake a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) in 2020 following Oban High School’s construction as part of the Scotish Government’s Schools for the Future Programme, delivered in partnership with Hub North Scotland. The purpose was to understand what was working well in the school and what could have been done beter, to inform future projects. It is easy for a POE to fall into the trap of becoming a tick-box exercise – by its very nature, it is carried out long afer the building has been completed, its users have moved in and, in some cases, its client team have moved on. It can be difcult to know what to measure, and who to ask. Previous to this POE being carried out, Ryder worked with the Scotish Futures Trust to develop a Briefng and Evaluation Framework: a practical

guide to help local authorities develop wellrounded briefs that can be validated throughout the design process and used to measure success afer completion. Although the framework was not yet published when the brief for Oban High School was produced, the principles of the framework were retrospectively applied to the POE. The project had encompassed a thorough phase of stakeholder engagement and had some clearly defned objectives, which were used to craf a set of bespoke POE questions unique to Oban High School. A rounded methodology was adopted, including questionnaires and focus groups with pupils and teachers, interviews with key staf members, and a walk-through of the building facilitated by the headteacher. This methodology allowed Ryder to understand if any issues not covered by the questionnaire had

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emerged while the school was in use. It also allowed Ryder to hear about a variety of (sometimes unexpected) benefts and uses being developed by the building users to enhance the spaces in their new community school. These benefts included an expansion of the curriculum to ofer more courses, including utilising the digital infrastructure for hybrid and remote learning. Outdoor spaces have been used to support the curriculum through the addition of an apiary, construction area and polytunnel. Natural light centred on the atrium acts as an anchor point for ease of wayfnding, social activities, dining, assemblies and performances. The ability to black out both the atrium roof and the internal windows made this space particularly suitable for drama

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performances. The stage area had been raised since completion to give the audience a beter view. Headteacher Peter Bain said: The sheer number of children and adults who have benefted from this investment is amazing. Not only is Oban High School able to use our new school infrastructure and resources to teach lessons beyond our own building to many schools across Argyll and Bute, we are also able to share our educational developments and experiences nationally, and indeed internationally. This has all been made possible, and quite impressively, because of the new school.9

Indicators and Evaluation

Clients undertaking POE should follow a thorough and structured approach to brief development, such as the Briefng and Evaluation Framework, to establish clear objectives from the outset. These objectives can then be protected, tracked and validated throughout design and delivery, before measuring success post-handover. Even if this approach has not been feasible from the briefng stage, it is important to think carefully, creatively and meaningfully about what POEs are for. They should help architects understand the impact of their design decisions on specifc communities and user groups. They should respond to the nuances of a place, and measure the issues that are important to the aspirations and values of the school. As such, both the questions and the

methodology should be designed to capture as broad a picture as possible of the school in real, live use – with all its quirks, personality and successes. These are the lessons and stories we pass on to the next project, for the beneft of all.

Figure 5.7 (opposite) Oban High School: central forum. Figure 5.8 (above) Oban High School: approach.

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Case Study 11

Marjorie McClure School, London

Location: Belmont Lane, Chislehurst, Greater London Internal area: 3,325m2 Site area: 2.34 hectares Occupancy: 100 Age range of occupants: 4–19 years Client team: London Borough of Bromley/Department for Education Design team: Haverstock (architect); Galliford Try (contractor); AKSWard (structural engineer); Elementa Consulting (mechanical and electrical engineers); UBU Design (landscape architects); Glanvilles (highways consultant); Acoustic Ltd (acoustic consultant); FDS Consult (fre engineer); Sweco (approved inspector); Space Zero (furniture, ftings and equipment consultants); Innovare (superstructure); Halsion (mechanical, electrical and plumbing subcontractor); Buckingham Pools (hydrotherapy pool specialist); Novatia (ICT consultant); Shine (kitchen specialist); Blackpoint Design (visualisations) Milestone days: completion December 2022 Project cost: £13 million

Figure 5.9 Marjorie McClure School: entrance view visualisation.

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Predicted or in-use operational energy data (kWh/m2 /y): 67 Awards/accreditations: part of the NLA’s (New London Architecture) Resilience London

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Learning is an adventure, flled with inspirational and creative opportunities.

Figure 5.10 Marjorie McClure School: axonometric sketch view.

Marjorie McClure School caters for 4- to 19-year-olds with a diverse range of complex needs, which include physical, medical and/or profound and multiple learning difculties (PMLD), autistic spectrum condition (ASC) and a range of sensory needs. The school’s educational vision is that learning is an adventure, flled with inspirational and creative opportunities. It is important that students can move around the building independently wherever possible, so the design is single storey and level access. The layout forms a fgure-of-eight shape, with multi-agency and out-of-hours larger communal spaces located to the front of the school. Directly opposite the welcoming entrance space is a key space: the school hall. The project includes a hydrotherapy pool, which is an important therapy and learning space, and a

valuable resource for the wider community out of hours. To the south, the classrooms are zoned into early years, primary, secondary and post-16 areas, each with their own identity to support progression through the school. The classrooms are arranged around two courtyards, which allow daylight and air to penetrate the circulation spaces, and have been carefully detailed to include sensory gardens, an animal care area, storytelling and performance spaces, alfresco dining, fruit trees and growing areas. The modern methods of construction reduce the construction impact on the local community. The Department for Education’s latest specifcation requires net-zero carbon in operation. This project was part of the DfE’s Sustainability Pilot Scheme – developed in response to the UK Government target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Targets include: improved fabric

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performance and airtightness to signifcantly reduce heat losses; daylighting strategy to meet best practice guidance of the DfE performance specifcation; the heating and renewable strategy, with PV panels and air-source heat pumps, will generate the heating for the building. The sustainability targets aspire to the LETI (Low Energy Transformation Initiative) principles in terms of operational energy, embodied carbon and data disclosure and the project is also part of the NLA’s Resilience London. There are three strands to the sustainability brief: reducing energy

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demand, greening the estate and creating a resilient new school. This resilience strategy includes spare plant space, built-in fexibility, building performance evaluation and zero combustion on-site. Through enhanced thermal insulation and airtightness, the passive design of this building provides a 15% reduction in energy consumption. The application of renewable energy, a combination of PV panels and air-source heat pumps, provides a further 48% reduction in energy usage, giving a

Indicators and Evaluation

combined improvement when compared to building regulations compliance of 63%. Embodied carbon has been considered with the selection of materials used, in particular the structural insulated panel (SIP) construction solution. Predicted energy-in-use is 67kWh/m2 /y, bordering on net-zero carbon performance. A building performance evaluation process will be implemented covering the frst three years of operation, to monitor and fne-tune performance. Inclusive design principles have been embedded in the brief and the design focuses on access for students, staf and visitors being enjoyable to all. Accessibility goes beyond the physical access and provides sensory experiences. The sensory rooms are designed to stimulate students to develop skills such as hand-eye coordination. There are four diferent spaces, including a sensory room, immersion room, sof play room and rebound therapy room. The hydrotherapy pool is a key space within the school, open to students and the wider community out of hours. The careful incorporation of mobility bays within the circulation and provision of hoists to all therapy spaces, classrooms and hygiene rooms ofers a fexibility and ease for all

students to move through the school. Communityuse facilities, complete with Changing Places provision, are designed to be easily accessible and made secure when necessary, with a carefully designed access control strategy. The school highlighted these key things in the brief: • • • • • • • •

inclusion for all – every space is accessible to support independent use rite of passage community use personal care hydrotherapy pool external learning therapy provision multi-agency support.

Figure 5.11 (opposite) Marjorie McClure School: playground visualisation. Figure 5.12 (above, lef) Marjorie McClure School: garden visualisation. Figure 5.13 (above, right) Marjorie McClure School: early years classrooms, sketch view.

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Case Study 12

The Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai, UAE Location: Tilal al Ghaf, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Internal area: 26,750m2 Site area: 4 hectares Occupancy: 2,100 pupils Age range of occupants: 3–18 years Client: Cognita Middle East Design team: Bogle Architects (design architect); BSBG (local architect, structures consultant); Samadhin and Associates (mechanical, electrical, public health – engineering); WT Partnership (costs); AESG (specialisms); Desert Ink (landscape); Multiplex Construction LLC (contractor) Milestone days: opened August 2021 Project cost: confdential Sustainability or wellbeing metric, data or certifcation: BREEAM Very Good Awards/accreditations: Foreign Construction of the Year, Stavba Roku 2021 – winner; Big Project Middle East Awards 2021, Energy Project of the Year – winner; Best Architecture Environment, Design and Sustainability in a UAE School 2021–22 – winner

The new design pays reference to the historic school, utilising many of the traditional motifs in a contemporary and localised approach.

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The Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai (RGSGD) is a British Curriculum school for young people aged 3 to 18 years old. It is the sister school of the Royal Grammar School Guildford (RGS), based in the UK, with over 500 years of pioneering heritage, sharing the same values, academic excellence and innovative approach to teaching. The new design pays reference to the historic school, utilising many of the traditional motifs in a contemporary and localised approach. It also shows how the historic school’s philosophy of integration and mentoring across the year groups is balanced against the local KHDA (Knowledge and Human Development Authority) guidance on year-group segregation. The school is located in Tilal al Ghaf, the fagship new community by local developer Majid Al Futaim. The space sits between Dubai Motor City and Sports City, a highly central location in one of the fastest-growing residential areas of the city. Bogle Architects were approached in July 2018 by the global education provider Cognita, who they have collaborated with on successful schools previously (see the RIBA publication Urban Schools: Designing for High Density 10 ). The brief was for a 2,100-pupil K-12 (Kindergarten to Grade 12) school to be developed within the constraints of the wider master plan. These constraints limited the building to four storeys and 30% ground coverage over the four-hectare plot. Working collaboratively with RGS Guildford, Cognita and the wider design team, the designs evolved throughout 2018, allowing for a start on-site in October 2019 to achieve the August 2021 opening date.

Indicators and Evaluation

Figure 5.14 RGSGD: internal atrium in the Kindergarten.

The school has been designed to cater for early years through to sixth form. One of the overarching philosophies of RGS Guildford in the UK is the integration across the school years, where the older children are encouraged to mentor the younger children. The KHDA has a guidance policy that states all children up to the age of six years should have their main classroom on the ground foor. Pupil profling means there are normally more children in the lower years and this requirement dictated the overall footprint of the school. The architects initially decided to keep the ‘double banked’ lower-years classrooms closer together to create a sense of intimacy and early years community across the atrium space. However, this proved to

be an inappropriate solution for the older children, who should experience a more open environment as they graduate towards higher education. This led to the building stepping in section to create a voluminous atrium space. This stepping-section solution also manifests itself on the exterior of the school, which efectively means that the foor above is shading the foor below. Therefore, the school is self-shading throughout the academic year, that is, no classrooms are hit with direct sunlight during the school day, reducing the building’s cooling load drastically while still achieving high levels of natural light. This quality of daylight is also prevalent in the atrium, which enhances the wellbeing of the

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Figure 5.15 RGSGD: external parents’ café looking towards the externally shaded swimming pool.

Figure 5.16 RGSGD: atrium level 4, looking towards the central servicing pods and green wall.

children, teachers and parents alike, ofering both visual and physical connectivity between year groups. This is also where references were made to the RGS Guildford UK school. The steel columns that hold up the atrium roof are a reference to the ‘inscribed’ dark timber trusses that hold up the roof in the ‘Big School’ hall in Guildford. The diamond roofights of the atrium roof are also a ‘superscale’ homage to the historic leaded windows of the ‘chained library’ in the headmaster’s study at the original Guildford campus.

sporting facilities. The 25m pool is naturally ventilated by openings in the enclosing shading concrete structure, which also gives a quality of dappled sunlight within the pool. These facilities, designed to be fully accessible by all, are also ofered to the local community out of school hours, giving a sense of inclusion to the Tilal al Ghaf estate. RGSGD’s designs are a direct response to the marriage of historical values, local regulations and climate. There is a real sense of ‘locality and community’ in the open internal environment.

Biophilia (the idea that humans have a natural afnity and urge to connect with other living things) also plays a key role in the wellbeing of the occupiers. Therefore the atrium is planted with large specimen trees and a variety of green walls that adorn the central service blocks located each side of the atrium – an oasis in the desert.

Wellbeing and mental health, ever more relevant in this post-pandemic environment, are equally important as academic achievements and the school is a paragon in supporting this philosophy.

Sport is a major part of the curriculum at RGSGD, and a separate block sits alongside the main teaching building providing both dry and wet

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The project demonstrates a deeply held duty to enhance the environment, while responding to climate change, and this low-energy, sustainable design (the frst BREEAM-rated school in the UAE) sets a benchmark for future schools – and not just for schools in the desert.

Indicators and Evaluation

Figure 5.17 (above) RGSGD: façade showing the stepping self-shading structure. Figure 5.18 (right) RGSGD: internal view of the junior library.

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Chapter 6 A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

Community Schools

In this book, with the help of research and case studies and drawing on our own practice over the past 20 years, we have argued that a new approach to school briefng and design is needed. This brief should refect: •

•

•

•

Schools’ importance to the community: Capital investment is a strong signal that education is important and has a critical role to play in the health and wealth of our country. To maximise that beneft, schools cannot sit alone but must be part of a wider built environment and governance agenda that promotes community cohesion, wellbeing, sustainability and inclusion. Schools’ connection to the community: Schools should be seen as part of our essential infrastructure – a network of spaces and facilities within the community, with more thought given to how they connect with activities and places outside their site boundary. We need to innovate in all these areas if we are to maximise the investment. Schools’ role in the community: Schools are natural community hubs and can act as a focal point for driving community change. Investing in them as community facilities supports this, allowing them to prioritise the needs of their own communities. Schools ofer a focal point and wonderful assets for their communities, particularly in deprived areas, which could be used to enhance provision which they might otherwise not have access to. Schools’ role in community innovation: School environments can accommodate new models of service delivery when public sector budgets are stretched. The school building and grounds are a vehicle to empower and give agency to young people, allowing them to fourish and succeed.

The key messages from each chapter are brought together here into a new briefng model. This has two key principles: •

•

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The brief expresses user requirements and should be used as a tool to evaluate success through the life of the building. It provides a strategic vision, clear objectives about what should be achieved, is an audit trail of decisions and actions, and provides the benchmark against which to measure success. This principle should not be new to experienced client and design teams. However, too ofen the briefng process is not properly resourced, is given too litle time to fully explore the range of issues, does not include a comprehensive approach to stakeholder engagement, and is put on the shelf and largely ignored once the project is underway. The brief provides an opportunity to take a whole-systems approach. Creating a brief is not just about defning environmental standards or providing the right number of classrooms and laboratories. It should be

Schools are natural community hubs and can act as a focal point for driving community change.

A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

about exploring the wider issues, including wellbeing, connectivity and inclusion, community and sustainability. That means dedicating time and space to discuss some challenging issues, engaging partners to explore relationships and how the project can add value to their goals, and having approaches, tools and questions that allow pupils, staf, parents and the wider community to fully engage with the current and future challenges and have their say about what would support them to fourish.

Developing the brief – a new approach Below we set out the process for developing a new type of school brief. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or exhaustive guide but sets a framework within which conversations can be tailored to the needs of individual projects and localities. It is a starting point and should be adapted to your project. Stage 1: Map your community The frst stage is to look outwards and understand your locality (Figure 6.1). Map other partner organisations and collaborators, understand the spaces and places young people and their families connect with, interrogate routes to school and connections with other shared facilities, parks and open spaces.

Youth Services Employers

Health and Social Care Providers

Digital Centre

Learning Community Example

Library Community Sports Providers

Community School Delivery of high-quality, innovative teaching and learning

Community Events

Skills and Training Providers

Community Café

Figure 6.1 Mapping the learning community.

Parks and Open Spaces

Family Learning

Home Learning

Community Centre

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Use this information to map your learning community and discuss how the school sits within it. You do not want to replicate what already exists, so understand the gaps and overlaps and think about how the new school facilities can add value to what is already there. Stage 2: Develop your Stakeholder Engagement Plan Creating a Stakeholder Engagement Plan seting out the key people and organisations that will need to be involved, their roles and interests, ensures a comprehensive view of how best to bring in the right voices at the right time. It also helps to manage expectations around how everyone will be involved. It should set out clearly how the following will be delivered: •

communication – giving people information about the project and what is happening; for example seting up websites or social media channels consultation – asking stakeholders for their input and ideas, on the understanding that not all of these ideas may be taken on board; for example, having exhibitions, surveys, drop-in events or workshops to seek their views on the project collaboration – working together on a specifc issue that uses their expertise or specialism; for example on particular themes such as Early Learning or Additional Needs co-design – making decisions together throughout the design process; for example, by having a group of key stakeholders regularly involved in reviewing progress or inputing to design development.

•

•

•

It is important to remember that engagement fatigue can set in during a longer-term project and that involving the right people at the right time, in a way that makes sense to them, can energise and enhance their experience. Stakeholder engagement Think about: • • •

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Who are the stakeholders and how will they support and deliver our educational and community priorities? How do we involve the right people at the right time and in the right way as we develop this project? How do we build on what works already, including what we know about best practice on how to engage with our communities and partners?

A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

Include young people as partners in shaping change and evaluating the impact.

Include young people as partners in shaping change and evaluating the impact. Start with a clear question, based on participants’ experience and understanding. This anchors the conversation in reality and common experience. For example, ask them: • • • • •

What is it like to be a young person in this town/community? What do you like and what could be beter? What are the opportunities and challenges you see in having the best possible future? What does that mean for the skills, qualifcations and experiences you need to make the most of the opportunities? How should that be refected in what happens at school and elsewhere? What should that mean for your learning environment?

Use the early stages of the process as an opportunity to think widely, gather creative ideas and interrogate all the possibilities. For example, reaching out to parents and carers and seeking their input can help raise aspirations and build stronger relationships between the school and families. Build on your own best practice around working with your communities. Using a range of engagement tools – such as visits, workshops, surveys, drop-in events, online meetings and exhibitions – can maximise participation. And using local public venues such as supermarkets, libraries, community centres and sports facilities can also break down barriers to involvement. Stage 3: Agree your vision and strategic priorities Take the opportunity to think about all aspects of wellbeing, community, inclusion and connectivity and sustainability using some of the tools in this book, such as working through the steps in the School Wellbeing Pyramid (see Figure 3.1) and checking that you have explored all aspects of the connected and inclusive school (see Figure 4.2). Think about what you want to achieve in the short, medium and long term by asking, ‘If I came back one, fve or ten years afer the school opened, what would be diferent in my community? What would be diferent for our young people, staf, parents and local residents?’ Think about the following key issues and whether you have fully addressed them all in the brief.

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Designing for the community • Show strong leadership – embedding and securing the principle of the school as a community resource and being clear about the benefts this brings. This can be through policy frameworks, such as in Scotland (see Chapter 3), or local guidance by councils or multi-academy trusts. • Have a clear vision and ethos from the start – beginning the briefng process by knowing the community beneft you want to achieve, and how it will be delivered or measured, is important in shaping the design. Be clear about who will use the building, how and when they will use it, and what facilities they will need. • Understand whether you are creating a community hub or a community resource – a community hub will require additional space for partnership working and facilities that provide a wide range of services. A community resource may be used during the school day or mainly afer normal school hours. • Add value to existing partnerships – most schools are already community schools to a greater or lesser extent. Understand how the design can support and enrich the activities already being delivered, and their aspirations for the future. • Be clear about governance and management – make sure there are no surprises about how spaces will be used, who will be responsible for their running and upkeep, and how they will be managed and sustained in the long term. • Involve the community – create early opportunities to hear from community users about what is needed or important to them, so the design connects with them and meets their needs. • Link to the curriculum – be clear how the ‘community’ element of the design links to the learning activities, particularly if partner organisations are using the spaces. Designing for wellbeing • Create an agreed defnition of ‘wellbeing’ that refects the school’s specifc priorities and can be used to inform the design process. Set indicators of how wellbeing will be measured, including the contribution the building and outdoor spaces will make to their success. • Engage and involve the school community, using the design process as an opportunity to discuss issues of wellbeing and how the building can support their aspirations. This will create a sense of pride and ambition and help them to plan and manage themselves into the new building. • Think about the learner journey and design age-appropriate spaces that create a sense of progression and ownership.

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A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

Designing for inclusion • Appoint a project inclusion champion to advocate for and involve children at every stage of the process. • Ensure the brief is joined up around those issues that impact on user wellbeing, including the environment, management and organisation, resources and participation. • Adopt inclusivity in its widest sense – design for all the senses. • Prioritise specifc requirements of those users with identifed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). • Integrate the project into the curriculum to enrich the pupil experience and deliver ongoing benefts. Stage 4: Develop your design principles The design principles should set out what the new spaces need to deliver in order to meet your vision and strategic priorities. This is not about the design of spaces but rather about the activities they need to support for all users. They might cover, for example: •

•

•

•

Learning and social activities: The size of teaching groups and the sorts of activities they will be undertaking, how the school day will operate, the equipment and resources required, the look and feel of the spaces and the behaviours and emotions they should encourage, how staf work and how social space will contribute to them having a healthy and professional environment. Thought should be given to both internal and external spaces and how they will be used and by who. Partner spaces: If other services are going to use the spaces, what provision will they be delivering, who will be using them, what access do they require and will they have their own dedicated space or share with the school? Community use: Will the school be open to community use during the school day or will it be mainly out of normal school hours? Which spaces are suitable for community use and which are only for school use? How will this be managed and who will be responsible for overseeing community users? Future fexibility: Think about future-proofng and sustainability at the start of the project – will the technology need to be upgraded in three to fve years? Will the space still work if the curriculum changes? Are the pupil, family and community needs likely to change? How will we maintain the building and ensure systems can be easily upgraded, for example to maintain energy efciency?

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Think about the following key issues: Designing for the community • Zone-in layers: Think about how the spaces will work in suites that can be zoned. The school may want to invite parents and partners in during the school day. They may want to open sports facilities outside normal school hours, or make large spaces such as the library, hall and dining area available for events. Each zone should be ringfenced for environmental controls such as heating and lighting, and given access to support facilities such as toilets or storage, to ensure efcient use of resources. • Future-proof: Think about how to create multiuse spaces that can accommodate a range of school and community activities to maximise usage. Also consider how the community facilities could be extended in future if there was additional need. • Design for additional users: Make sure that community users have storage for their resources and materials, can make refreshments if out of normal school hours, and have access to appropriate toilets and changing facilities. Designing for wellbeing • Design spaces in suites so they give fexibility for a range of learning and social activities, allowing the school to support new priorities with minimum disruption and stress. • Create a sense of belonging that ensures all users are included in ways that meet their needs. • Think about choice. Make sure the building creates opportunities for users to have agency in how they use it. Designing for inclusion • Demand fun and delight. Keep a focus on what child-friendly looks like and ensure consideration is given to the fun and delight every new building should deliver. • Get the balance right between ‘safe’ and ‘welcoming’ to ensure new school buildings are inviting to all. • Integrate the project into the curriculum to enrich the pupil experience and deliver ongoing benefts. Stage 5: Test, measure and evaluate Briefng should be an iterative process, seeking views and circulating draf documents for comment and review to make sure they have been captured accurately.

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Ensure consideration is given to the fun and delight every new building should deliver.

A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

Things to think about include the following. Using indicators in the design process • Be a building user, not just a building occupier: Understand all aspects of your environment and your interaction with it. Think widely about what is important to your school community in terms of learning space, furniture and equipment, comfort, site, access, safety and security, identity, relationship with the community, inclusion and wellbeing. • Move away from talking about ‘learning environments’: Develop an agreed understanding of what a healthy, inclusive, sustainable community school would be for all your current and potential users. • Evaluate how your space – indoor and outdoor – is working: Create opportunities for regular conversations with pupils, staf, parents, community and governors to capture their views. Plan Continuing Professional Development events with staf. Record and report on what you fnd so that you are continually sharing, adding and keeping the conversation live and relevant. • Change is ongoing and buildings are not static: They can be changed and tweaked to suit. Small changes can sometimes make a big diference if you know what you need to do. Do not be afraid to adapt your building to suit your needs. • Create or maintain a relationship with the design team: Regardless of contractual relationships, there is real beneft in collaborating on how the building is working for users and in sharing expertise and understanding about what is working well and less well. • Create your own indicators: Think about how to express wellbeing, sustainability and inclusion in a way that refects your community; measure and report against these indicators so they are meaningful to your school. • Have an evaluation process that works for you and links to your wider school planning and improvement framework. In researching this book, we have seen much good practice and innovation across the UK and internationally. This includes the Brisbane South State Secondary College (see Case Study 13 in this chapter), which connects to its wider context through the design and external spaces and has an educational focus on a ‘sustainable world’. We have drawn on these key approaches in developing the briefng framework. One important example of recent innovation in England is the GenZero1 Department for Education research project (see Case Study 14). It shows the beneft of whole-systems learning, researching, developing, prototyping and sharing new approaches to designing for sustainable and

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healthy schools. It will be interesting to see how this new approach starts to infuence the briefng and design of new Department for Education schools over the coming years. Our briefng model is about how we design and what we design, but it is also a series of prompts to encourage real clarity about who we are designing for. This is not simply about creating a set of learning spaces put together to deliver the curriculum. It focuses on the process, uses and outcomes. It is about creating healthy, inclusive, sustainable schools that support wellbeing for users, that are fully embedded in their communities, that encourage understanding and sharing about what works and, most importantly, that allow their young people to fourish and be their very best.

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Case Study 13

Brisbane South State Secondary College, Australia

Location: 179 Annerley Road, Duton Park, Brisbane, Australia Internal area: 16,000m2 Site area: 2.76 hectares Occupancy: 1,600 students Age range of occupants: 11–17 years (pupils) Client: Queensland Government’s Department of Education Design team: BVN (architect); JFP (landscape architect); Bornhourst & Ward (structural and civil engineers); Stantec (services engineers); Ridgemill (project management); Collaborative Cost Management (quantity surveyor); WSP (façade and fre engineer); Phillip Chun (Building Code of Australia and Disability Discrimination Act); Adam Connor Design (food services); Cambray (trafc and transport); Broad (contractor) Milestone days: launched December 2018, completed November 2021 Project cost: A$130 million Predicted or in-use operational energy data (kWh/m2 /y): 100kwH solar array (designed to expand to 300kwH in future)

Figure 6.2 Brisbane South State Secondary College: front entrance.

Awards/accreditations: 2020 The Educator, Innovative Schools Award; 2022 Australian Institute of Architecture (AIA) National Awards, The Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture

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Brisbane South State Secondary College is located on a historical ridge which was traditionally used for camping and weaving by the local First Nations people. Understanding the Indigenous Duton Park habitat was a key aspect of the holistic nature of the design. The architectural language is derived from the Indigenous heritage of the site as a place of making, expressing the craf of net weaving and tool carving within the metalwork and concrete tectonics. Key spaces within the school are angled towards special views, light or aspects, connecting the school to its place and heritage. Extensive native landscaping ties a wide variety of outdoor spaces together. The school is set within a permeable and energised public realm to maximise learning interactions

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around a memorable and vibrant central native garden. The campus consists of fexible and resilient facilities, designed to adapt to changing learning pedagogies over time. Each building is centred around double-storey learning hubs, which ofer learning characterised by open, adaptable and shared presentation spaces for collaboration across multiple disciplines. Vertical learning hubs optimise openness and glazing to connect and formally frame views of signifcant landscape features. The historical use of the site for camping, weaving and the making of tools by the local First Nations people inspired the screens, interior details and the incorporation of an endemic palete of fora, colours and fnishes.

A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

Figure 6.3 (opposite) Brisbane South State Secondary College: central native garden. Figure 6.4 (lef) Brisbane South State Secondary College: interior paletes and details derived from local geology and nature.

pedagogy. Interior paletes and styles derive from endemic materials used in historical tool making, either through the actions of carving stone implements on the local Brisbane Tuf geology or weaving bark from the Kurrajong tree. These inform the characteristic colour, material selections and detailing, demonstrated across joinery, screens and signage design as either carved or woven systems. Brisbane South State Secondary College is Brisbane’s newest vertical public school, located within an inner-city precinct adjoining the university and research institutions. The department brief was for a new high school for 1,600 students to meet enrolment pressures in the city. BVN were commissioned at stakeholder and community consultation phase to develop the initial brief into an agreed master plan and subsequent design and tender. The project was delivered within three years from frst meeting to complete handover to the school. Founded upon an acknowledgement and deep respect for Indigenous history, the design successfully blends Design with Country principles2 with contemporary interiors and innovative

Contemporary learning occurs across all disciplines within three learning hubs of STEM, Creativity and Health–Wellbeing, to support an innovative pedagogy. Within learning hubs there are collaborative, gathering and making spaces to facilitate student interaction and project-based learning. Merged holistically within a naturally inspired, calming and connected learning environment, students participate in futurefocused, technologically enhanced making activities refective of Indigenous endeavours of the past. The sustainable aspiration for this inner-city vertical school is to create comfortable and naturally inspired learning environments where students can deeply connect with community, landscape and country. Carbon usage is minimised

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The sustainable aspiration for this inner‑city vertical school is to create comfortable and naturally inspired learning environments where students can deeply connect with community, landscape and country. Figure 6.5 Brisbane South State Secondary College: learning spaces are orientated towards parklands and cooling breezes.

largely by the adoption of mixed-mode ventilation throughout, optimised with efective solar orientation, sun shading and landscaped microenvironmental design, and ofset by 100kwH solar array. Situated on a ridge, open galleries and learning spaces orientate towards parkland setings and cooling breezes; native landscaping is irrigated by a 400kL rainwater storage system. The campus consists of fexible and resilient buildings, designed with robust and durable materials, able to adapt to changing learning pedagogies over time to maximise lifespan functionality of the school. The project design is founded on the following values:

• • • • • • •

•

•

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network of learning, connected with Brisbane’s knowledge corridor and partners welcome and energised public realm to maximise learning interactions memorable and vibrant central garden as a magnet for teaching and learning demonstrative campus refective of contemporary and Indigenous values innovative learning environments to manifest and share the benefts of education fexible and resilient buildings able to adapt to changing pedagogies over time active connections to the network knowledge corridor and local learning partners (University of Queensland, Ecosciences, Translational Research Institute and Princess Alexandra Hospital) public access for community use of school facilities and park edges (creative hub, sports hall, community garden and active park) inviting arrival court from Annerley Road, energised by open and visible school activities.

A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

Case Study 14

GenZero Location: two theoretical test sites were selected for the research prototypes: unconstrained site: land to the south of Rusper Road, Ifeld, Crawley / constrained site: Barrack Street, Birmingham Internal area: unconstrained site prototype B1: 9,950m2 / constrained site prototype B2: 10,380m2 Site area: unconstrained site B1: 8.94 hectares / constrained site prototype B2: 1.1 hectare Occupancy: 1,200 pupils of 11–16 years or 900 pupils of 11–16 years with 225 pupils post-16, plus staf and community Age range of occupants: 11–18 years (pupils), staf and community (all ages) Client team: Department for Education, partnering with Construction Innovation Hub and Innovate UK Design team: Lyall Bills & Young Architects (architects); Ares Landscape Architects (landscape); Smith & Wallwork Engineers (structural and civil engineers); Cundall (environment and services engineers); Mot MacDonald (project management, quantity surveyor, carbon consultant, acoustic consultant); the-learning-crowd (educationalist); Bond Bryan Digital (information consultant)

The project has involved the theoretical design of two prototype school buildings, one for an unconstrained (large) site in Crawley and one for a constrained (severely restricted) site in Birmingham. A demonstrator classroom has been physically built to let people see and experience what a timber structure would be like in reality. The aim of the research is to push the boundaries of DfE aspirations and test what a school building could be in a very diferent way – outside the normal project constraints. The frst GenZero pilot school – St Mary’s Primary School and Nursery in Derby – is due for completion in 2023. 3 The research-driven design concept places nature at the heart of the educational environment: building zero-carbon schools designed to promote the wellbeing of children, young people and all who use them. By puting the preservation and

Milestone days: prototypes launched during the Education Estates Conference, Manchester, October 2021 Project cost: confdential Predicted or in-use operational energy data (kWh/m2 /y): estimated 40 – mitigated by on-site energy generation of 53kWh/m2 /y through the use of PV cells Embodied carbon data (kgCO2/m2): unconstrained site: construction: 365 for Stage A at practical completion (excluding sequestration); whole life: 221 afer sequestration has been accounted for and operational carbon negated by on-site PVs / constrained site: construction: 367 for Stage A at practical completion (excluding sequestration); whole life: 221 afer sequestration has been accounted for and operational carbon negated by on-site PVs Sustainability or wellbeing metric, data or certifcation: the buildings are ultra-low carbon in construction, due to a lean foundation design and optimised timber superstructure, and would be zero carbon in use, with very low operational energy use ofset by PVs Awards/accreditations: Sustainable project of the year – Graphisof Awards 2021; Best BIM Project – Construction Computing Awards 2021

Figure 6.6 GenZero: courtyard visualisation – the landscape immediately outside the classrooms helps to moderate high temperatures.

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The research‑driven design concept places nature at the heart of the educational environment.

Figure 6.7 (above) GenZero: façade and landscape visualisation – natural materials, biophilic principles and biodiversity net gain are embedded in the design. Figure 6.8 (opposite) GenZero: playground visualisation – a range of sof and hard landscaping to encourage social interaction and curriculum opportunities.

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cultivation of the natural environment at the forefront of the design, the schools allow the user to interact with nature and seek the benefts of doing so in a way that is proven to aid health and wellbeing. A ‘kit of parts’ building strategy means simple, standardised spaces that are not defned by furniture and ftings, allowing for diferent curriculum models with litle need for change. Constructed with timber, the buildings reduce environmental impact from construction, and this proposed platform for manufacturing within a factory seting will allow the building of schools at scale, with minimal waste, across the UK in the future. The landscape around the schools has been thoughtfully designed to provide protection against the elements, with minimal disruption

A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

to the existing environment. Rain gardens are planted alongside buildings to make the most of runof from heavy rainfall, and trees protect the building’s façade as well as providing solar shading. Easily accessible green spaces have a measurable efect on the health, wellbeing and educational atainment of learners; therefore, GenZero schools are designed to make the most of the environment. The schools have dedicated spaces for outdoor learning, physical and social activities, as well as horticultural areas, bike stores and lots and lots of trees. UK-sourced timber will be used throughout the buildings, both for construction and for surfaces and furniture. This low-carbon, renewable resource contributes now and throughout the life of the building: it is replaceable, and it looks and feels good over a long period.

Encouraging active engagement with the outdoors means creating outdoor spaces that are stimulating, useful and considerate of the local environment. Pedestrian routes, made of carefully selected materials, weave through mixed meadow planting and existing woodland, leading to outdoor seating and dining areas that are made from sustainably sourced, home-grown timber. At the heart of the schools is the ‘commons’, a clearly defned civic and social centre of the campus that includes the cafeteria, library and fully confgurable teaching spaces. The architecture of the commons works in harmony with its surroundings, with sustainable timber construction and wide glass windows strengthening the connection to the landscape.

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Figure 6.9 GenZero: internal dining space visualisation – good natural lighting, natural materials and a visual and physical connection to outside space.

Not only has this research initiative delivered two secondary school prototype designs on diverse demonstration sites, it has also defned a series of strategies for the creation of sustainable school buildings and grounds. The design and the strategy combined generate an innovative of-site and in situ component set, which are the basis of the site-wide solutions on both prototypes. The project was developed from summer 2020 to summer 2021 and fnished at RIBA Stage 4. A demonstrator classroom has been produced using key components from the kit of parts and was manufactured with UK-sourced timber. It was displayed at the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre during COP26. While low-carbon construction, low energy and low carbon in use have been fundamental drivers, the brief recognised from the outset that a much broader defnition of sustainability was needed if the project was to be a success. It is founded

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on the Department for Education’s three core design standards: • • •

healthy and productive environment designed to be safe, secure and sustainable at the right size.

At the heart of the project brief is the need for new schools to ofer a safe and secure environment that supports users’ needs and wellbeing. The design of interior and exterior spaces responds directly to this need. For example, opportunities for connection with nature from views out of the building are maximised, along with outdoor learning, activity and amenity spaces set within a lush, protective landscape that wraps closely around the buildings and encourages users to go outdoors. In both prototype buildings, a ‘Commons’ provides an easy-to-identify social heart of the school development and includes the dining area, along with learning resources such as a library and IT

A New Brief for Community Schools – Designing for Sustainability, Wellbeing and Inclusion

spaces. These can be accessed by the whole school community throughout the day and by the wider community out of school hours. Environmental strategies for the buildings include natural cross-ventilation with heat recovery, high ceilings and tall windows for good daylighting, with automatic and manually operated openings. A standardised distribution solution also ensures ventilation fan speeds are low and minimises energy use. The prototype designs propose robust, long-lasting solutions that can and will be retained for a long lifespan, with timber used extensively in building interiors, to ensure they look good over a long period and to help promote a biophilic response in users. GenZero adopts a ‘kit of parts’ approach and innovative construction, based around a highly standardised yet fexible accommodation model. All space planning and components work to a rational 1.8m grid, simplifying manufacturing and maximising future adaptability. This approach also supports the delivery of buildings with a high degree of of-site manufacture, and is backed by digitally based construction using the latest information modelling sofware. The innovative kit of parts has been optimised for efciency to minimise the use of carbon. A core aim of the project brief was to address how school buildings perform in use. This was informed by fndings from the DfE’s ongoing post-occupancy evaluation research. The outcomes of this research permeate the GenZero prototype designs. Specifc design responses were directly informed by the fndings and the project is now in turn informing how the DfE approaches evidence-gathering in future post-occupancy evaluation work.

A key area is how the prototypes address user wellbeing. For example, responses within the project included the use of timber as a calming fnish and a colour strategy developed for the building interiors, with distinct but complementary ‘vitality’ and ‘living’ colour palates suitable for diferent areas and activities within the school. Post-occupancy fndings also led to the deep embedment of sustainable technologies within the prototypes, with a focus on fabric frst and passive ventilation to ensure the buildings remain sustainable over a long period with low user input. Whole-life cost analysis has helped to support the need for increased robustness in schools and helped with the selection of durable and atractive fnishes that are cost and carbon efective when viewed over the entire lifespan of the buildings. A few key considerations from the GenZero project outcomes include the following. Design for user wellbeing is hard to defne as a set of standards and ofen defes empirical description, but it is a core part of the GenZero approach and should be addressed within future post-occupancy evaluation of school buildings. Low-carbon technologies need to be deeply integrated and form part of a holistic development which encourages users to work in harmony with the buildings and to support the sustainable strategies. A low-carbon outcome is likely only if a balanced view of sustainability is adopted when project briefng is developed, to ensure that the buildings are suitable for all users, that they are fexible and atractive places to work and learn, and as such are more likely to be retained in the long term.

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Figure 6.10 Crawford Wright speaking at the Education Estates Conference in Manchester, 2022.

Crawford Wright RIBA, Head of Design, Department for Education (DfE), explains the aims of GenZero GenZero was a chance to do things diferently, particularly as the funding came from outside DfE so was not directly focused on meeting our immediate concerns, such as sufciency of pupil place. The work grew out of that already underway on modern methods of construction (MMC) 4 to develop a standardised approach to school design. We wanted to push the boundaries and create a new model that got the best from of-site production, MMC and standardisation. GenZero was about trying to deliver the very best outcomes, achieving the very lowest carbon we possibly could, and thinking about what a school building could be in a very diferent way. We took a multilayered approach to this theoretical exercise. It has actually gone further than we hoped, including building the prototype classroom for COP26 5 which is now being developing further. We are testing technical aspects of it, including fre tests at Cambridge University on the very thin timber structure for the foors.

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GenZero schools are now being built and new standard designs are taking account of what we learned from the project about the grid and about unifying primary and secondary classroom sizes and dimensions. The best thing about being able to prototype was leting people see what a timber structure would be like and that it would be advantageous for many reasons. We are now looking at how you take all the great things about the prototype and carry them through to the specifcation of a whole school design without losing any of the ‘wow factor’. We understand that all the elements of the design have to work. For example, we are looking at how we integrate the spaces with nature – visually and through ventilation and access – so it is not a hermetically sealed environment but connected with nature both visually and environmentally. We currently have resilient landscape pilots happening to show that you can do it economically and that for every £1 you spend on landscape you get £20 back. This should not be a ‘nice to have’ but an essential approach that transforms your building and environment. We would like to work with schools to ‘show and tell’ and get early adopters who understand how to manage their new landscape and green infrastructure. We know that we need to overcome the fear of doing something diferent and show the investment is value for money. We want to do more long-term engagement in thinking about how people use their buildings and how things change over time. We need to beter understand the minutiae of how people use buildings, the equipment, materials, etc, and post-occupancy evaluation is helping us do that. We have an opportunity to embed sensors into school buildings to monitor data and that should tell us some interesting things about buildings in use – and it could be a great learning tool as well. We also need to be a hub of international learning on interesting practice to give schools tools to understand what works elsewhere. We want people to take responsibility for understanding their buildings and how they work. As we design our schools, we should certainly all be thinking about health and wellbeing, particularly around healthy outcomes and happy children. 6

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Bilbliography

Bibliography Association of Chief Police Ofcers, ‘Secured by Design: New Schools’, 2014. Astbury J, ‘ReVærk’s all-timber school building in Denmark is a lesson in natural construction’, 30 September 2021, htps:// www.dezeen.com/2021/09/30/revaerkhouse-nature-all-timber-school-buildingdenmark (accessed 10 December 2022). Barony Campus, East Ayrshire, htps:// www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/ EducationAndLearning/Investing-in-EastAyrshire-Schools/The-Barony-Campus. aspx (accessed 28 September 2022). Big Bocs Bwyd, www.bigbocsbwyd.co.uk (accessed 28 September 2022). Bourn D and Hatley J, ‘Target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence in Schools in England’, Research for Our Shared World, DERC Research Paper no. 22, UCL Institute of Education, 2022. Boys J and Jefery A, ‘Educating the City: Urban schools as social infrastructure’, The Bartlet Real Estate Institute, 2021. Bryant J, ‘The triumph of community schools’, The Progressive Magazine, 17 June 2021, htps://progressive.org/ magazine/triumph-of-communityschools-bryant (accessed 7 December 2022). Cambourne Village College, htps:// www.cambournevc.org (accessed 28 September 2022). Channon B, Happy By Design: A Guide to Architecture and Mental Wellbeing, RIBA Publishing, 2018. Choi H-H, van Merrienboer JJG and Paas F, ‘Efects of the physical environment on cognitive load and learning: Towards a new model of cognitive load’, Educational Psychology Review, 26, 2014, pp 225–244.

Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, ‘Sure Start. Every building maters – A visual guide to designing Sure Start Children’s Centres and other early years facilities and spaces’, 2008. COSLA and the Scotish Government, ‘Scotland’s Learning Estate Strategy. Connecting People, Places and Learning’, Scotish Government, 2019. Davies J, ‘Review of Big Bocs Bwyd Pilot Phase 1 – “The Valleys 5”’, Valleys Regional Park Recreation and Wellbeing Convenor, April 2022. Department for Education, ‘About the School Rebuilding Programme’, htps:// www.gov.uk/government/publications/ school-rebuilding-programme/schoolrebuilding-programme (accessed 28 September 2022). Department for Education, ‘Area Guidelines for Mainstream Schools. Building Bulletin 103’, HMSO, 2014. Department for Education, ‘Area Guidelines for SEND and Alternative Provision. Including Special Schools, Alternative Provision, Specially Resourced Provision and Units. Building Bulletin 104’, HMSO, 2015. Department for Education, ‘Education Staf Wellbeing Charter’, htps://www.gov.uk/guidance/educationstaf-wellbeing-charter (accessed 28 September 2022). Department for Education, ‘GenZero’, htps://www.genzero.co.uk (accessed 28 September 2022). Department for Education, ‘School Buildings and Land Guidelines’, htps://www.gov.uk/education/schoolbuildings-and-land-guidelines (accessed 28 September 2022).

Department for Education, ‘The National Curriculum’, htps://www.gov.uk/ government/collections/nationalcurriculum (accessed 28 September 2022). Department for Education Northern Ireland, ‘Community Use of School Premises. A Guidance Toolkit for Schools’, 2014. Department of Education Northern Ireland, ‘Protocol of Selection of Major Capital Works – December 2021’, htps:// www.education-ni.gov.uk/topics/ schools-and-infrastructure/protocolselection-major-capital-works-december2021 (accessed 22 September 2022). Department of Education, Ireland, ‘Supporting the Wellbeing of School Communities: Guidance for Schools’, February 2022, htps://www.gov.ie/en/ publication/52642-supporting-thewellbeing-of-school-communities-asschools-reopen-guidance-for-schools/# (accessed 28 September 2022). Design Council, ‘Our Response to the Building Beter, Building Beautiful Commission’, June 2019, htps://www. designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/skillslearning/resources/our-response-buildingbeter-building-beautiful-commission (accessed 28 September 2022). Design, Engineer, Construct! htps:// designengineerconstruct.com (accessed 28 September 2022). Diss O and Jarvie M, ‘Unfnished Business: Where Next for Extended Schools?’, Child Poverty Action Group/Family and Childcare Trust, 2016. Education Scotland, ‘Health and Wellbeing…Making it Work’, October 2022, htps://education.gov.scot/ improvement/self-evaluation/healthand-wellbeing-responsibility-of-allmaking-the-links-making-it-work (accessed 19 December 2022).

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Education Scotland, ‘What is the Curriculum for Excellence?’, htps:// education.gov.scot/education-scotland/ scotish-education-system/policy-forscotish-education/policy-drivers/cfebuilding-from-the-statement-appendixincl-btc1-5/what-is-curriculum-forexcellence (accessed 28 September 2022). Gill T, Urban Playground: How ChildFriendly Planning and Design Can Save Cities, RIBA Publishing, 2021. Government Equalities Ofce and Equality and Human Rights Commission, Equality Act 2010, htps://www.gov.uk/ guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance (accessed 22 September 2022). HM Government, ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom’, HMSO, 2022. HM Government, ‘The National Curriculum’, htps://www.gov.uk/ government/collections/nationalcurriculum (accessed 28 September 2022). HM Government, ‘Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener’, HMSO, 2021. Hub South East Scotland, ‘Newbatle Community Campus Case Study’, htps://www.hubsoutheastscotland.co.uk/ projects/newbatle-community-campus (accessed 28 September 2022). Inspiring Scotland, ‘What We Do’, htps://www.inspiringscotland.org.uk/ who-we-are (accessed 3 January 2023). Jackson I and Muijs D, ‘Pupil Learning Experience and Wellbeing Review. Pupil Experience in Schools and Multi-Academy Trusts’, Edurio, 2021. Kelz C, Grote V and Moser M, ‘Interior wood use in classrooms reduces pupils’ stress levels’, 9th Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, September 2011.

156

Klate M, Hellbrück J, Seidel J and Leistner P, ‘Efects of classroom acoustics on performance and wellbeing in elementary school children: A feld study’, Environment and Behavior, 42, 2010, pp 659–692. Local Government Association, ‘Building Cohesive Communities: An LGA Guide’, 2019. London Borough of Southwark, ‘Southwark School Design Guidelines’, September 2018. Maslow AH, ‘A theory of human motivation’, Psychological Review, 50(4), 1943, pp 370–396. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, ‘Modern Methods of Construction Working Group: Developing a Defnition Framework’, htps://www.gov. uk/government/publications/modernmethods-of-construction-workinggroup-developing-a-defnitionframework (accessed 28 September 2022). Morgan Sindall Construction, ‘Building Beter Futures: Facilitating Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)’, 2020. Morris H, ‘The Village College. Being a Memorandum on the Provision of Educational and Social Facilities for the Countryside, with Special References to Cambridgeshire’, 1924, in Rée H (ed), The Henry Morris Collection, Cambridge University Press, 1984. OECD, ‘Framework for Measuring Well-Being and Progress’, htps:// www.oecd.org/wise/measuring-wellbeing-and-progress.htm (accessed 28 September 2022).

Ofce of Elementary and Secondary Education, US Department of Education, ‘Full-Service Community Schools Program (FSCS)’, htps://oese.ed.gov/ ofces/ofce-of-discretionary-grantssupport-services/school-choiceimprovement-programs/full-servicecommunity-schools-program-fscs (accessed 28 September 2022). Partnerships for Schools, ‘Building Schools for the Future’, htps://www. partnershipsforschools.org.uk/about/ aboutbsf.jsp (accessed 28 September 2022). Public Policy Institute for Wales, ‘Increasing the Use of School Facilities’, HMSO, 2016. Ramblers and YouGov, ‘The Grass isn’t Greener for Everyone: Why Access to Green Space Maters’, Ramblers, 2020. Roe J and McCay L, Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2021. Scotish Futures Trust and Ryder, ‘Briefng and Evaluation Framework’, Scotish Futures Trust, 2022. Scotish Government, ‘Estate Strategy: Connecting People, Places and Learning’, September 2019. Scotish Government, ‘Geting It Right for Every Child’, htps://www.gov.scot/policies/ girfec (accessed 28 September 2022). Scotish Government, ‘Geting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC). Wellbeing (SHANARRI)’, htps://www.gov.scot/ policies/girfec/wellbeing-indicatorsshanarri (accessed 28 September 2022). Scotish Government, ‘Place Principle – Introduction’, htps://www.ourplace.scot/ place-principle-1 (accessed 25 November 2022).

Bibliography

Scotish Government, ‘Place Standard’, htps://www.ourplace.scot/About-PlaceStandard (accessed 25 November 2022). Taylor H and Wright S, Urban Schools: Designing for High Density, RIBA Publishing, 2020. The Children’s Commissioner, ‘The Big Ask: The Big Answer’, The Children’s Commissioner for England, 2021. UN Climate Change Conference 2021, ‘Co-Chairs Conclusions of Education and Environment Ministers Summit at COP26’, htps://ukcop26.org/co-chairsconclusions-of-education-andenvironment-ministers-summit-at-cop26 (accessed 28 September 2022). United Nations, ‘Chapter IV. Human Rights. 11) Convention on the Rights of the Child’, in United Nations Treaty Collection, Depositary, Status of Treaties, 2020. United Nations, ‘Sustainable Development Goals’, htps://sdgs.un.org (accessed 28 September 2022). Welsh Government and Education Wales Hwb, ‘Curriculum for Wales’, htps://hwb. gov.wales/curriculum-for-wales (accessed 28 September 2022). Welsh Government, ‘Shared Purpose: Shared Future. Statutory Guidance on the Well-being of Future Generations Act (2015)’, Welsh Government, 2016. Welsh Government, ‘Wellbeing of Future Generations’, htps://gov.wales/wellbeing-of-future-generations-wales (accessed 28 September 2022).

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Endnotes Introduction 1. The Children’s Commissioner, ‘The Big Ask: The Big Answer’, The Children’s Commissioner for England, 2021, p 37. Chapter 1 1. Department for Education, ‘Area Guidelines for Mainstream Schools. Building Bulletin 103’, HMSO, 2014. 2. Department for Education, ‘Area Guidelines for SEND and Alternative Provision. Including Special Schools, Alternative Provision, Specially Resourced Provision and Units. Building Bulletin 104’, HMSO, 2015. 3. COSLA and the Scotish Government, ‘Scotland’s Learning Estate Strategy. Connecting People, Places and Learning’, Scotish Government, 2019. 4. Education Scotland, ‘What is the Curriculum for Excellence?’, htps:// education.gov.scot/education-scotland/ scotish-education-system/policy-forscotish-education/policy-drivers/ cfe-building-from-the-statementappendix-incl-btc1-5/what-is-curriculumfor-excellence (accessed 28 September 2022). 5. Welsh Government and Education Wales Hwb, ‘Curriculum for Wales’, htps://hwb.gov.wales/curriculum-forwales (accessed 28 September 2022). 6. Department of Education Northern Ireland, ‘Protocol of Selection of Major Capital Works – December 2021’, htps://www.education-ni.gov.uk/topics/ schools-and-infrastructure/protocolselection-major-capital-worksdecember-2021 (accessed 22 September 2022). 7. Local Government Association, ‘Building Cohesive Communities: An LGA Guide’, 2019, p 37.

158

8. Department for Education Northern Ireland, ‘Community Use of School Premises. A Guidance Toolkit for Schools’, 2014, p 1. 9. Ibid, pp 4–5. 10. Public Policy Institute for Wales, ‘Increasing the Use of School Facilities’, HMSO, 2016. 11. Ofce of Elementary and Secondary Education, US Department of Education, ‘Full-Service Community Schools Program (FSCS)’, htps://oese.ed.gov/ ofces/ofce-of-discretionary-grantssupport-services/school-choiceimprovement-programs/full-servicecommunity-schools-program-fscs (accessed 28 September 2022). 12. Bryant J, ‘The triumph of community schools’, The Progressive Magazine, 17 June 2021, htps://progressive.org/ magazine/triumph-of-communityschools-bryant (accessed 7 December 2022). 13. Boys J and Jefery A, ‘Educating the City: Urban schools as social infrastructure’, The Bartlet Real Estate Institute, 2021, Foreword. 14. Ibid. 15. The Children’s Commissioner, ‘The Big Ask: The Big Answer’, The Children’s Commissioner for England, 2021, p 7. 16. Scotish Government, ‘Geting It Right for Every Child: policy statement 2022’, htps://www.gov.scot/policies/girfec (accessed 28 September 2022). 17. Ibid, p 6. 18. Morgan Sindall Construction, ‘Building Beter Futures: Facilitating Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)’, 2020.

19. Ramblers and YouGov, ‘The Grass isn’t Greener for Everyone: Why Access to Green Space Maters’, Ramblers, 2020. 20. Local Government Association, ‘Building Cohesive Communities: An LGA Guide’, 2019. 21. Government Equalities Ofce and Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘Equality Act 2010 Guidance’, htps:// www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010guidance (accessed 22 September 2022). 22. United Nations, ‘Sustainable Development Goals’, htps://sdgs.un.org (accessed 28 September 2022). 23. United Nations, ‘Sustainable Development Goals – History’, htps:// sdgs.un.org/goals#history (accessed 3 January 2023). 24. Department for Education, ‘Further Education Sustainable Estates Guidance’, 2022. 25. Ibid, p 8. 26. Ibid, p 13. 27. Ibid, p 10. 28. The Children’s Commissioner, ‘The Big Ask: The Big Answer’, The Children’s Commissioner for England, 2021, pp 23, 26. 29. Design Council, ‘Our Response to the Building Beter, Building Beautiful Commission’, June 2019, p 5, htps://www. designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/skillslearning/resources/our-responsebuilding-beter-building-beautifulcommission (accessed 28 September 2022). 30. Place Standard partners, htps:// www.ourplace.scot/place-principle-1 (accessed 25 November 2022). 31. Scotish Government, ‘Place Principle: Introduction’, April 2019, htps://www.gov. scot/publications/place-principleintroduction (accessed 19 December 2022).

Endnotes

32. Scotish Government, ‘Estate Strategy: Connecting People, Places and Learning’, September 2019, p 3. Chapter 2 1. Diss O and Jarvie M, ‘Unfnished Business: Where Next for Extended Schools?’, Child Poverty Action Group/ Family and Childcare Trust, 2016. 2. Morris H, ‘The Village College. Being a Memorandum on the Provision of Educational and Social Facilities for the Countryside, with Special References to Cambridgeshire’, 1924, in Rée H (ed), The Henry Morris Collection, Cambridge University Press, 1984. 3. Cambourne Village College, htps://www.cambournevc.org (accessed 28 September 2022). 4. Partnerships for Schools, ‘Building Schools for the Future’, htps://www. partnershipsforschools.org.uk/about/ aboutbsf.jsp (accessed 28 September 2022). 5. London Borough of Southwark, ‘Southwark School Design Guidelines’, September 2018, p 2. 6. Ibid. 7. Big Bocs Bwyd, www.bigbocsbwyd.co. uk (accessed 28 September 2022). 8. Hayward J, email to the author (Wright S), April 2022. 9. Davies J, ‘Review of Big Bocs Bwyd Pilot Phase 1 – “The Valleys 5”’, Valleys Regional Park Recreation and Wellbeing Convenor, April 2022, p 10. 10. Barony Campus, East Ayrshire, htps://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/ EducationAndLearning/Investing-in-EastAyrshire-Schools/The-Barony-Campus. aspx (accessed 28 September 2022). 11. Ibid.

12. Hub South East Scotland, ‘Newbatle Community Campus Case Study’, htps:// www.hubsoutheastscotland.co.uk/ projects/newbatle-community-campus (accessed 28 September 2022). 13. OMA’s htps://www.oma.com/projects/ gent-oude-dokken (accessed 6 April 2023). Chapter 3 1. Jackson I and Muijs D, ‘Pupil Learning Experience and Wellbeing Review. Pupil Experience in Schools and Multi-Academy Trusts’, Edurio, 2021. 2. The Children’s Commissioner, ‘The Big Ask: The Big Answer’, The Children’s Commissioner for England, 2021. 3. Department for Education, ‘Education Staf Wellbeing Charter’, htps://www.gov. uk/guidance/education-staf-wellbeingcharter (accessed 28 September 2022). 4. Scotish Government, ‘Geting It Right for Every Child’, htps://www.gov.scot/ policies/girfec (accessed 28 September 2022). 5. Education Scotland, ‘Health and Wellbeing…Making it Work’, October 2022, htps://education.gov.scot/ improvement/self-evaluation/healthand-wellbeing-responsibility-of-allmaking-the-links-making-it-work (accessed 19 December 2022). 6. Education Scotland, ‘What is the Curriculum for Excellence?’, htps:// education.gov.scot/education-scotland/ scotish-education-system/policy-forscotish-education/policy-drivers/cfebuilding-from-the-statement-appendixincl-btc1-5/what-is-curriculum-forexcellence (accessed 28 September 2022). 7. HM Government, ‘The National Curriculum’, htps://www.gov.uk/ government/collections/nationalcurriculum (accessed 28 September 2022).

8. Welsh Government and Education Wales Hwb, ‘Curriculum for Wales’, htps://hwb.gov.wales/curriculum-forwales (accessed 28 September 2022). 9. Department of Education, Ireland, ‘Supporting the Wellbeing of School Communities: Guidance for Schools’, February 2022, htps://www.gov.ie/en/ publication/52642-supporting-thewellbeing-of-school-communities-asschools-reopen-guidance-for-schools/# (accessed 28 September 2022). 10. Maslow AH, ‘A theory of human motivation’, 1943, Psychological Review 50(4), pp 370–396. (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory of psychology that says humans are motivated to fulfl their needs beginning with the basics, such as water, food and shelter, before moving to more advanced needs, such as employment, relationships, self esteem and being the best you can be.) 11. Association of Chief Police Ofcers, ‘Secured by Design: New Schools’, 2014. 12. HM Government, ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom’, HMSO, 2022. 13. Department for Education, ‘Education Staf Wellbeing Charter’, htps://www.gov.uk/guidance/ education-staf-wellbeing-charter (accessed 28 September 2022). 14. Inspiring Scotland, ‘What We Do’, htps://www.inspiringscotland.org.uk/ who-we-are (accessed 3 January 2023). 15. ‘There are three teachers of children: adults, other children and their physical environment.’ Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the Reggio Emilia approach, htps:// www.myteachingcupboard.com/blog/ environment-as-the-third-teacher (accessed 3 January 2023). 16. Kellert S and Calabrese E, ‘The practice of biophilic design’, 2015, www.biophilic-design.com (accessed 10 December 2022).

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17. Astbury J, ‘ReVærk’s all-timber school building in Denmark is a lesson in natural construction’, 30 September 2021, htps:// www.dezeen.com/2021/09/30/revaerkhouse-nature-all-timber-school-buildingdenmark (accessed 10 December 2022).

11. Choi H-H, van Merrienboer JJG and Paas F, ‘Efects of the physical environment on cognitive load and learning: Towards a new model of cognitive load’, Educational Psychology Review 26, 2014, pp 225–244. 

18. htps://www.architype.co.uk/project/ burry-port-community-primary-school (accessed 5 January 2023).

12. Klate M, Hellbrück J, Seidel J and Leistner P, ‘Efects of classroom acoustics on performance and wellbeing in elementary school children: A feld study’, Environment and Behavior, 42, 2010, pp 659–692.

Chapter 4 1. The Children’s Commissioner, ‘The Big Ask: The Big Answer’, The Children’s Commissioner for England, 2021. 2. United Nations, ‘Chapter IV. Human Rights. 11) Convention on the Rights of the Child’, in United Nations Treaty Collection, Depositary, Status of Treaties, 2020.

13. Morgan Sindall Construction, ‘Building Beter Futures: Facilitating Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)’, 2020.

3. The Children’s Commissioner, ‘The Big Ask: The Big Answer’, The Children’s Commissioner for England, 2021, p 23.

14. Department for Education, ‘Area Guidelines for SEND and Alternative Provision. Including Special Schools, Alternative Provision, Specially Resourced Provision and Units. Building Bulletin 104’, HMSO, 2015.

4. Roe J and McCay L, Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2021.

15. Design, Engineer, Construct! htps://designengineerconstruct.com (accessed 28 September 2022).

5. Gill T, Urban Playground: How ChildFriendly Planning and Design Can Save Cities, RIBA Publishing, 2021.

16. United Nations, ‘Sustainable Development Goals’, htps://sdgs.un.org (accessed 28 September 2022).

6. Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, Sure Start: Every building maters – A visual guide to designing Sure Start Children’s Centres and other early years facilities and spaces, 2008.

17. Ibid, Goal 4, htps://sdgs.un.org/goals/ goal4 (accessed 10 December 2022).

7. Ibid, pp 10–11. 8. Channon B, Happy By Design: A Guide to Architecture and Mental Wellbeing, RIBA Publishing, 2018. 9. Department for Education, ‘Education Staf Wellbeing Charter’, p 8, htps://www.gov.uk/guidance/ education-staf-wellbeing-charter (accessed 28 September 2022). 10. Ibid, p 9.

160

18. Bourn D and Hatley J, ‘Target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence in Schools in England’, Research for Our Shared World, DERC Research Paper no. 22, UCL Institute of Education, 2022, p 6. 19. Kelz C, Grote V and Moser M, ‘Interior wood use in classrooms reduces pupils’ stress levels’, 9th Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, September 2011.

20.The RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge sets a series of voluntary building performance targets for architectural practices to adopt to reduce operational energy, embodied carbon and potable water to realise the signifcant reductions necessary by 2030 in order to have a realistic prospect of achieving net-zero carbon for the whole UK building stock by 2050. For embodied carbon, the target is reduction by at least 40% from current ‘business as usual’ baseline fgures, before ofseting. Specifc targets have been set for newbuild schools as an example of non-domestic buildings. htps://www. architecture.com/about/policy/climateaction/2030-climate-challenge (accessed 3 January 2023). Chapter 5 1. HM Government, ‘Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener’, HMSO, 2021. 2. OECD, ‘Framework for Measuring Well-Being and Progress’, htps:// www.oecd.org/wise/measuring-wellbeing-and-progress.htm (accessed 28 September 2022). 3. Welsh Government, ‘Wellbeing of Future Generations’, htps://gov.wales/ well-being-of-future-generations-wales (accessed 28 September 2022). 4. Welsh Government, ‘Shared Purpose: Shared Future. Statutory Guidance on the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act (2015)’, 2016. 5. Scotish Government, ‘Geting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC). Wellbeing (SHANARRI)’, htps://www.gov.scot/ policies/girfec/wellbeing-indicatorsshanarri (accessed 28 September 2022). 6. COSLA and the Scotish Government, ‘Scotland’s Learning Estate Strategy. Connecting People, Places and Learning’, 2019. 7. Ibid, p 13.

Endnotes

8. Scotish Futures Trust and Ryder, ‘Briefng and Evaluation Framework’, 2022. 9. Foreword, Oban High School PostOccupancy Evaluation Report, October 2020. 10. Taylor H and Wright S, Urban Schools: Designing for High Density, RIBA Publishing, 2020. Chapter 6 1. Department for Education, ‘GenZero’, htps://www.genzero.co.uk (accessed 28 September 2022). 2. Design with Country is an emerging design philosophy in Australia which establishes the principle that the development of the built environment must engage with, and be guided by, Aboriginal community and heritage. It considers nature, people and design and the relationships between them. 3. St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy New Build htps://www.stmarysderby. srscmat.co.uk/our-school/our-new-build/ (accessed 6 April 2023). 4. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, ‘Modern Methods of Construction Working Group: Developing a Defnition Framework’, htps://www.gov. uk/government/publications/modernmethods-of-construction-workinggroup-developing-a-defnitionframework (accessed 28 September 2022). 5. UN Climate Change Conference 2021, ‘Co-Chairs Conclusions of Education and Environment Ministers Summit at COP26’, htps://ukcop26.org/cochairs-conclusions-of-education-andenvironment-ministers-summit-atcop26 (accessed 28 September 2022). 6. Wright C, in conversation with the authors, 21 March 2022.

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Index Page numbers in bold indicate fgures. A Anshen + Allen 31, 31 Architype 74–79 Argyll & Bute Council 66–69 B Barony Campus, East Ayrshire 36, 36 Big Ask survey 11–12, 22, 54, 83, 90 Big Bocs Bwyd initiative, Wales 9, 33–34 Bogle Architects 128–131 Boys, Jos 8–9 briefng model 134–142, 135 Brisbane South State Secondary College, Australia 143–146 ‘Building Beter Futures’ report 13–14, 88–89 Building Bulletin guidelines 2–3, 88 ‘Building Cohesive Communities’ report 6, 14 Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme 2, 28, 31 Burry Port Community Primary School, Carmarthenshire 74–79 BVN 143–146 C capital funding 2, 4 Carmarthenshire County Council 74–79 Castle Tower School complex, Ballymena 93–95 Channon, Ben 87 Children’s Centres 35, 35, 85–87 Children’s Commissioner 11–12, 22, 54, 83, 90 Climate Change Framework 19, 19 Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) 85–87 community hub model 29, 38, 134, 138 community resource model 29, 138 community schools 28–51 briefng model 134–142, 135 case studies 40–51 community engagement 35–36 defning 28–29 future-proofng 35 governance and management 38 importance of 6–9 key points for design brief 39, 138, 140 linking to the curriculum 33–34 local leadership 32–33 partnerships 38

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vision and ethos 29–31 ‘Community Use of School Premises. A Guidance Toolkit for Schools’ 6–7 connectivity 5, 21–23, 82–105 case studies 93–105 defning 83–87 designing for 87–91, 91 indicators 112–113, 112 key points for design brief 92 Convention on the Rights of the Child 12, 83, 90 Covid-19 pandemic 9, 16, 35, 54, 58, 89, 114 Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland 4, 56–57 Curriculum for Wales 4, 33–34, 58 D Department for Education (DfE) Building Bulletin guidelines 2–3, 88 Climate Change Framework 19, 19 GenZero project 147–153 personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education 57 Staf Wellbeing Charter 55, 64, 87–88 sustainable education estate 18–20 Department for Education Northern Ireland 6–7 Design, Engineer, Construct! (DEC) initiative 90 Design Council 22 digital participation and engagement 108–109 dRMM 100–105 E ‘Educating the City: Urban schools as social infrastructure’ 8–9 England Big Ask survey 11–12, 22, 54, 83, 90 Building Bulletin guidelines 2–3, 88 Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme 2, 28, 31 capital funding 2 Climate Change Framework 19, 19 GenZero project 147–153 London Borough of Southwark 32–33, 32 Marjorie McClure School, London 124–127 personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education 57 Staf Wellbeing Charter 55, 64, 87–88 sustainable education estate 18–20

Three Rivers Academy, Surrey 40–43 Titus Salt School, Bradford 31, 31 Village Colleges, Cambridgeshire 29–30, 30 Wintringham Primary Academy, St Neots, Cambridgeshire 100–105 Woodberry Down Children’s Centre, Hackney, London 35, 35 Equality Act 2010 17 evaluation see indicators and evaluation F Framework for Measuring Well-Being and Progress 110, 111 Fry, Maxwell 30 Full-Service Community Schools Program, USA 7–8 G GenZero project 147–153 Geting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach, Scotland 12, 55–56, 113 Gill, Tim 84–85, 85 Gropius, Walter 30 H Happy by Design 87 Haverstock 124–127 Hawkins\Brown 32 Highland Council Architects 48–51 House of Nature, Silkeborg Folk High School, Denmark 70–73 Hub North Scotland 37 I inclusion 5, 13–15, 82–105 case studies 93–105 defning 83–87 designing for 87–91, 91, 139, 140 key points for design brief 92, 139, 140 sustainability and 17 ‘Increasing the Use of School Facilities’ report 7 indicators and evaluation 24, 108–131 case studies 120–131 high-level frameworks 109–115, 110, 112, 115 key points for design brief 119, 141 project-specifc indicators 116–117 qualitative measures 116 quantitative measures 116–117 using in design process 117–118, 140–141 Isherwood + Ellis 93–95

Index

J Jefery, Anna 8–9 K Keyworth Primary School, Southwark, London 32, 33 L Learning Estates Strategies, Scotland 4, 23, 113–114 Les Quennevais School, Jersey 96–99 Local Government Association 6, 14 Lyall Bills & Young Architects 147–153 M McCay, Layla 83–84, 85 Marjorie McClure School, London 124–127 measures see indicators and evaluation Melopee Multifunctional School Building, Ghent, Belgium 29, 44–47 Merkinch Primary School and Family Centre, Inverness 48–51 Milltimber School, Aberdeen 62, 63 Morgan Sindall 13–14, 88–89, 100–105 Morris, Henry 29–30 N Newbatle Community High School, Midlothian 37, 38 NORR Consultants Limited 48–51 Northern Ireland capital funding 4 Castle Tower School complex, Ballymena 93–95 community use of schools 6–7 O Oban High School, Oban 120–123 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 110, 111 P Pick Everard 96–99 Place Principle, Scotland 22–23, 112–113, 112 post-occupancy evaluations see indicators and evaluation Public Policy Institute for Wales 7 R Restorative Cities Framework 83–84, 85 Reværk Architecture 70–73 Rivington Street Studio 35

Roe, Jenny 83–84, 85 Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai, United Arab Emirates 128–131 Ryder Architecture 115, 115, 120–123 S safeguarding 16, 38, 60, 82 School Wellbeing Pyramid 59–64, 59 Scotland Barony Campus, East Ayrshire 36, 36 capital funding 4 community engagement 35–36 Geting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach 12, 55–56, 113 health and wellbeing in curriculum 56–57 indicators and evaluation 112–115, 112, 115 Learning Estates Strategies 4, 23, 113–114 Merkinch Primary School and Family Centre, Inverness 48–51 Milltimber School, Aberdeen 62, 63 Newbatle Community High School, Midlothian 37, 38 Oban High School, Oban 120–123 Place Principle 22–23, 112–113, 112 Silver Birch Outdoor Learning Centre, Argyll and Bute 63, 66–69 Scot Brownrigg 40–43, 62, 63 Scotish Futures Trust 115, 115 Secured by Design standards 60 sense of belonging 59, 61–62 Sheppard Robson 36 Silver Birch Outdoor Learning Centre, Argyll and Bute 63, 66–69 special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) 13–14, 88–89 Staf Wellbeing Charter 55, 64, 87–88 Stakeholder Engagement Plans 136–137 Sure Start: Every building maters 85–87 sustainability 5, 16–21, 108 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 17, 90–91

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 17, 90–91 United States 7–8 Urban Playground 84–85, 85 Urwin, Samuel 30 V Village Colleges, Cambridgeshire 29–30, 30 W Wales Big Bocs Bwyd initiative 9, 33–34 Burry Port Community Primary School, Carmarthenshire 74–79 capital funding 4 community use of schools 7 health and wellbeing in curriculum 58 wellbeing goals 113 wellbeing 5, 11–13, 54–79 case studies 66–79 connectivity and 87–88 defning 54–58 designing for 59–64, 59, 138, 140 health and wellbeing in curriculum 56–58 indicators 109, 113 key points for design brief 65, 138, 140 sustainability and 16–17 Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 33–34, 76, 113 Wintringham Primary Academy, St Neots, Cambridgeshire 100–105 Woodberry Down Children’s Centre, Hackney, London 35, 35 X Xaveer De Geyter Architects 44–47

T Three Rivers Academy, Surrey 40–43 Titus Salt School, Bradford 31, 31 trauma-informed design 89 U United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 12, 83, 90

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Image Credits Author Portrait (Helen Taylor) – pVII © Tash Busta Photography Author Portrait (Sharon Wright), 1.4 – pVII and p13 © Sharon Wright 1.1 – p3 © Mark Mercer 1.2 – p8 © Cover design: Santiago Rodriguez 1.3 – pp10-11 © Chalegrove Properties Limited 1.5a, 1.5b – p18 and p19 © GOV.UK 2.1, 2.2 – p30 © Architectural Press Archive / RIBA Collections 2.3 – p31 © Timothy Soar Archives/Stantec 2.4 – p32 © Jack Hobhouse 2.5 – p35 © Rivington Street Studio 2.6, 5.4, 5.5, 5.7, 5.8 – pp36, 120, 122 and 123 © Keith Hunter Photography 2.7 – p37 © Joe Gilhooley LRPS 2.8, 2.10, 2.11, 2.12 – pp41, 42 and 43 © Hundven-Clements Photography 2.9 – p41 © Scot Brownrigg 2.13, 2.15, 2.16 – pp44 and 46 © XDGA, Maxime Delvaux 2.14, 2.17 – pp45 and 47 © XDGA 2.18, 2.19, 2.20, 2.21, 2.22 – pp49-51 © Robertson_John Paul Photography 3.1, Icons 1-6, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1 – pp59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 91, 110 and 135 © Authors 3.2, 3.3 – pp62 and 63 © David Barbour/ Scot Brownrigg 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8 – pp66-69 © Argyle and Bute Council 3.9, 3.11 – pp71 and 72 © Anders Rajendiram 3.10 – p71 © ReVærk Architecture 3.12, 3.13 – p73 © Martin Gravgaard 3.14, 3.15, 3.20 – pp75 and 78 © Architype 3.16, 3.17, 3.18, 3.19 – pp76, 77 and 78 © Leigh Simpson 4.1 – p85 © Tim Gill/ RIBA Publishing 4.3, 4.4, 4.6, 4.7 – pp93, 94 and 95 © Donal McCann Photography Ltd 4.5 – p95 © Isherwood Ellis Architects 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.12 – pp96, 97, 98 and 99 © Les Quennevias School 4.11 – p99 © Pick Everard Architects 4.13, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16 – pp101-104 © Hufon + Crow 4.17 – p105 © dRMM 5.2 – p112 © Open Government Licence v3.0. Place Standard tool 2022 developed by the Scotish Government, Public Health Scotland, Glasgow City Council and Architecture & Design Scotland www.placestandard.scot 5.3 – p115 © Scotish Futures Trust 5.6 – p121 © Ryder Architecture 5.9, 5.10, 5.11, 5.12, 5.13 – pp124-127 © Haverstock 5.14, 5.15, 5.16, 5.17, 5.18 – pp129-131 © Chris Goldstraw / Bogle Architects 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 – pp143-146 © Tom Roe 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9 – pp147-150 © Ares Landscape Architects and Lyall Bills & Young Architects 6.10 – p152 © Step Connect2

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