A growing body of evidence suggests that play has a significant impact on almost every area of children’s lives. It also suggests that children have significantly fewer opportunities for non-prescriptive ‘free play’ than previous generations have enjoyed. Most children spend at least 2000 hours of their life in a school playground, probably more than in any other outdoor play setting. Despite this, many UK schools do little to create the kind of rich play environments and experiences that are important for children. In other parts of Europe, play is viewed as a crucial aspect of school life – and their playgrounds and play practice are radically different from the UK. The authors embarked on a 2-year project with 8 Scottish primary schools to explore whether some of these more ambitious European-style ideas could be adapted to a UK context and to assess what the benefits of this approach might be for children. This report summarizes the approach they took, the lessons they learned and the impact of these projects on children and schools. [Authors' abstract] 17p

Description of the design of the award-winning Hazelwood School in Glasgow, Scotland that serves the needs of autistic students with sight, hearing, mobility or cognitive impairments. Discusses the choice of materials, the parkland setting, and the safe, stimulating environment for students and staff. 4p

This report is for school leaders who are leading and developing sustainable schools. It summarizes the findings from Forum for the Future and the Institute of Education's 2009-10 research for the National College into how school leaders are developing and embedding sustainability within their schools and communities. It includes examples of the skills, tools and activities school leaders are using to do this. Includes characteristics of a sustainable school. The study highlighted that there are two distinct phases of innovation as schools make the transition from one stage to another. These phases are practice development and strategic integration.

Showcases over 60 exemplary recently built or refurbished schools and universities from 28 countries and includes examples of early childhood, primary, secondary, vocational and higher education facilities spanning countries in six continents, from India, Uruguay and Portugal, to Australia, United States and Burkina Faso. Collectively, these projects demonstrate state-of-the-art design in this field and each one is lavishly illustrated with colour photos, plans and descriptions.

Descriptions and photographs of outstanding work of schools, local authorities, sponsors, design teams, contractors and suppliers in developing excellent learning environments for young people and communities around England. 24p.

The purpose of the database is to inform the planning, design, construction, management and evaluation of educational spaces by providing an international resource of exemplary school and university facilities, combined with a bibliographical reference tool for strategic investment in educational infrastructure. This database draws on two sources of information: Information collected in the framework of the joint CELE/European Investment Bank project on “Strategic Investment Planning for Educational Infrastructure”. The 60 exemplary schools and universities featured in CELE’s publication Designing for Education: Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities 2011. The database provides detailed information on each project, in addition to high-quality photos and plans and contact information for schools and architects. The database classifies each design project by category: flexible learning settings, school regeneration, access, new technologies, outdoor spaces, furniture, safety, comfort, community use and involvement, integrated services, special needs provision, multi-sensory environment, cultural and historical value; environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, cost efficiency, library/resource centre, music facilities, fine art facilities, science laboratories, vocational facilities, sporting facilities, etc). In due course, details of all the 166 submissions received during the publication’s preparatory phase will be uploaded on the database.

Hazelwood is a school in Glasgow, Scotland, for children and young people, aged 2 to 18, who are blind and deaf – “dual sensory impaired”. Many of the school’s children are physically handicapped and all have a degree of cognitive impairment. Architecturally, it is a new type of project, and a real success. The children and young people respond well to their new environment and appear to be thriving. The building has received multiple national and international awards. For photographs of the school, see http://www.alandunloparchitects.com/work/hazelwood-school 18p.

This is the story of a community placed in an enviable position of receiving funding to build a new campus and the technology to transform learning. What is discovered very early on, is that no one had considered the human impact of such a project. This book seeks to do exactly that. The process of community engagement is addressed as well as the psychology of human behaviors that emerge in such a context. Written through the perspective of a senior leader, with many amusing and bizarre stories, the book describes how the struggle and effort required to keep sound educational principles at the heart of a project is worth it. What came out of the process was a building that had a variety of learning spaces, fully trained staff, modern ICT and a transition curriculum. It was the only school building in the country to be delivered on time, within budget, with a ground breaking CPD program. 216p

Learning Landscapes is a research project looking at the ways in which academics work with colleagues in campuses and other key stakeholders to develop and manage innovation in the design of teaching and learning spaces in higher education. This project explored new pathways and strategies which universities are using to link academic expertise to the process of quality and cost effective campus development in the redesigning the university for the twenty first century. The research features a series of campus mapping profiles and case studies of particular innovative teaching and learning spaces in the participating universities. These case studies have been used to produce a number of development tools that can be utilised by academics, estates professionals and other key stakeholders working in the HE sector. 29p.

Examines the opportunities that refurbishing existing school buildings can offer, breaking the term refurbishment into what the authors call "the new 3Rs." They are: Refresh, which looks at the valuable contribution that good interior design and high quality furniture can make; Refurbishment, which includes more major upgrading of the building fabric and services as well as remodelling of internal spaces; and Reuse, which considers new functions for redundant buildings, whether it is breathing new life into old school buildings or converting existing offices or retail units into new schools. 24p.

In 2001, England's Richmond upon Thames Council assembled a team to work on a vision for the classroom of the future. The result is Ingenium — a completely new approach to classroom design reflecting the demands of 21st Century learning. Core members of the design team were students from the three partner schools. They said they didn’t want a rectangular box with desks: they wanted to be able to arrange the space to suit themselves; to have the resources they needed to be available on demand; and above all they wanted to feel comfortable, in every sense, in their classroom. They said they wanted plenty of light, colour and air. Video shows the resulting classroom and the design process.

Previous studies have found that classrooms are often inadequately ventilated, with the resultant increased risk of negative impacts on the pupils. This paper describes a series of field measurements that investigated the indoor air quality, thermal comfort and acoustic performance of nine recently built secondary schools in England. The most significant conclusion is that the complex interaction between ventilation, thermal comfort and acoustics presents considerable challenges for designers. The study showed that while the acoustic standards are demanding it was possible to achieve natural ventilation designs that met the criteria for indoor ambient noise levels when external noise levels were not excessive. Most classrooms in the sample met the requirement of limiting the daily average CO2 concentration to below 1500 ppm but just a few met the need to readily provide 8 l/s per person of fresh air under the easy control of the occupants. It would seem that the basic requirement of 1500 ppm of CO2 is achieved as a consequence of the window areas being just sufficient to provide the minimum of 3 l/s per person at low and intermittent occupancy. Thermal comfort in the monitored classrooms was mostly acceptable but temperatures tended to be much higher in practice than the design assumed. [Authors' abstract] p1466-1477

Provides building design guidance for accommodation of special needs pupils in British schools. The individual parts of the document describe main categories of special educational needs and how to plan for them, inclusive design principles for schools, initial design strategies, design of specific spaces, technical guidance, and case studies. 200p.

Examines the potential and challenges of higher education campus growth and community development. The document discusses how the university and local civic authority can no longer carry on their business with minimal engagement. Both need each other today if either is to succeed. The scenarios explored in this publication are intended as informed provocations to stimulate debate not only within universities and local authorities, but also, particularly, between the two. 50p.

Looks at how universities can provide more innovative, effective and enjoyable working environments for academics and researchers. This report draws on case study research into new academic workspaces in the UK, distilling the lessons learned from these innovative projects to offer guidelines for future implementation. It describes the challenges of academic workspace design in the 21st century and considers various strategies and design solutions that can help to achieve the goals of a higher education institution and its academic members. The research findings make apparent that there is no single best design response, and that universities must understand each situation in terms of what they are trying to achieve and how they both want and need to work in the future. 37p

261 schools out of 587 that applied will be rebuilt or refurbished under the government's privately financed school building program, despite widespread concern about the state of school buildings.

Summarizes steps taken by the British government in rebuilding the dilapidated premises of existing schools.

This paper explores the views and expectations of children regarding their school environments and has constructed a framework for the school design process based on children’s information and reflections. The research objectives required analyzing secondary data, as well as qualitative and quantitative empirical studies— each one leading to the next. The issues raised by children about school design emerged through an analysis of three previous studies in the UK. The empirical study involved 260 children (11-12 years old) in two secondary schools in England. The findings highlight the importance children attribute to various issues. The overall findings have been developed as a school design framework to guide the design and decision-making processes of architects and designers. [Author's abstract]

In the UK, schools alone are responsible for 15% of the energy consumption in public and commercial buildings. The recent studies showed that newly built schools are failing to meet even basic performance criteria related to both energy consumption and provision of indoor environmental quality (acoustics, indoor air quality, thermal comfort, and lighting). The main objectives of this article are three-fold: (a) to review the results of three major studies related to operational performance of newly built schools in England, (b) to identify major issues of importance for energy efficient provision of indoor environmental quality in school buildings based on results of a comprehensive survey of 286 UK building professionals, and (c) to estimate the influence of uncertainty of some design parameters on energy consumption using differential sensitivity analysis. The article concludes that our current ongoing efforts to deliver low carbon school buildings conducive to learning have had little success due to a poor understanding of how to design, engineer, and facilitate learning spaces for changing pedagogical practices to support a mass education system. Major identified issues refer to aspects of policy, design, and commisioning that affects building performance. [Authors' abstract]

In-depth analyses of fifteen K-12 school buildings, with photos, drawings, specifications, descriptions and design solutions. Includes Evelyn Grace Academy, Zaha Hadid Architects London, United Kingdom; Gloria Marshall Elementary School, SHW Group, Spring, Texas; Leutschenbach School, Christian Kerez, Zurich, German; Machias Elementary School NAC Architecture, Snohomish, Washington; Marysville Getchell High School Campus, DLR Group,Marysville, Washington; Nathan Hale High School, Mahlum, Seattle, Washington; Pritzker Science Center, William Rawn Associates, Architects, Milton, Massachusetts; Samuel Brighouse Elementary School, Perkins+Will, British Columbia, Richmond, Canada; South Shore International College Prep High School, John Ronan Architects, Chicago, Illinois; Stoddert Elementary School & Community Center, EE&K a Perkins Eastman company, Washington D.C.; Summit Elementary School, Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership, Casper, Wyoming; W. F. Kaynor Technical High School, The S/L/A/M Collaborative, Waterbury, Connecticut; Cedar Ridge High School, Perkins+Will, Round Rock, Texas; Charles W. Morey Elementary School, Flansburgh Architects, Lowell, Massachusetts; Gary Comer College Prep, John Ronan Architects, Chicago, Illinois.

Montgomery Primary School is the UK’s first zero carbon in use and climate-change-ready exemplar school built to the Passivhaus standard. Its design and solar generating electrical power plant enable its electricity bill to be zero each year.

This paper focuses on the academic involvement in the design and delivery of new teaching and learning spaces in higher education. The findings are based on research conducted at 12 universities within the United Kingdom. The paper examines the nature of academic involvement in the design and decision-making process of pedagogic space design, revealing some of the complexities and the tensions within this area of academic leadership. The research found that innovation and creativity on particular projects is often restricted by the project management decision-making processes and that broader institutional aims are often underplayed once the design process goes into project mode. The paper concludes by calling for greater academic involvement in the design process in ways that allow for critical reflexivity based on discussions around the concept of "the idea of the university". [Authors' abstract]

Discusses the backlog of repairs needed by English schools. Officials estimate that half of England’s schools were constructed between the second world war and the mid-1970s. Many of these schools are asbestos-riddled, flat-roofed and a long way beyond their intended lifespans.

The last decade has seen a wave of new building across British universities, so that it would appear that despite the virtualization discourses around higher education, space still matters in learning. Yet studies of student experience of the physical space of the university are rather lacking. This paper explores the response of one group of students to learning spaces, including virtual ones, preferences for the location of independent study, and feelings about departmental buildings. It explores how factors such as the scale of higher education and management efficiency tend to produce rather depersonalized and regimented environments that in turn are likely to produce surface engagement. Responses of hospitality, criticality, and solidarity are briefly explored.

Discusses the British approach to student involvement in school design, which was encouraged under the previous labor government, but is not under the current conservative regime. Advantages to education of student involvement in design and construction are discussed, as is the poverty of excluding them from the process.

Highlights the work of the Sorrell Foundation in encouraging school architects to include a "client team" of students when forming the building program and design. Steps in collaborative architect/student research are suggested, and three British schools created via this process are profiled.

Profiles this new British high school that combines cost-effectiveness with student-led design and extremely high levels of innovation. Its distinctive oval and aerodynamic shape means it needs less energy to heat or cool and its orientation was specifically planned to maximize daylight but minimize over-heating. The multi-layered, open-plan interior of the building has also been constructed to maximize natural daylight. Its domed roof places an emphasis on allowing natural light into the building, and very few ceilings have been installed between its three floors. The design avoids the use of square classrooms, and incorporates triangular teaching spaces to create a 360 degree teaching environment which enables the teacher to be the focus of the students, wherever they are in the room. Sustainability features include thermal solar panels for hot water and a natural air ventilation system which uses 'wind catchers' incorporated into the school's roof.

Offers case studies of four British schools that feature daylighting, superior indoor air quality, and links between indoors and out. Photographs, plans, and sections accompany each case study.

Describes several British schools and how they accommodate general education, vocational training, and education for life skills.

Profiles the playground at Moorside School in Newcastle, Great Britain. The playground was selected as the best external learning environment by the British Council for School Environment (BCSE). It features flexible activity areas, a stage for storytelling and performance, and wild areas for unstructured exploration.

Recommends approaches to take in designing sustainable educational environments. The authors present recent examples of British school buildings that reduce carbon emissions and capitalize on renewable energy sources, and predict how schools will respond to energy needs in the future.

Explores some of the drivers for change in outdoor learning, and reviews some British examples with pupil-led choice and responsibility at the heart of each offer. Examples include an inner-city nursery and children’s center, an early childhood school, two sustainable elementary schools, a secondary comprehensive school of engineering, and a city farm.

Profiles the Hazelwood School in Glasgow, Scotland, a school for students with dual-sensory impairment. All are deaf, blind, and have learning difficulties. Some are in wheelchairs and some have behavioral issues. Ample access to the outdoors, interior sensory detailing, and a domestic atmosphere are featured. Plans, photographs, building statistics, and a list of project participants are included.