This category covers the type of redevelopment that provides minor redecorations, new floor and ceiling finishes and making good after ICT installations. It was often viewed upon as the least attractive category of work in the BSF programme; however, transformational environments can still be achieved with a combination of good interior design, innovative furniture and flexible ICT solutions.

As well as headline issues such as changes to the physical capacity of the school, more subtle issues relating to layout and adjacency should also be considered carefully. Requirements for increased storage and more widespread use of desktop ICT in classrooms means that standard classroom module sizes have increased in current guidance. Furthermore, there is a trend towards more generous circulation standards to accommodate pupil movement between classes. These requirements may mean that existing buildings cannot be space-planned as intensively as a new build option, which in turn provides opportunities to reorganise space to provide other learning settings.

Importance of interior design

Many existing school buildings have been well designed and are in good structural condition. Often though, they lack the single design vision that can transform them into world class learning environments. The substantial investment in school buildings provides the opportunity to apply this vision, but it is too rarely applied. The interior design profession was not well represented in BSF and considering the impact that can be made with a minimum of resources, is it time for this to be put right?

Role of colour in learning and behaviour

The ways in which colour, light and contrast are used within built environments are critical in determining how people interact with the space, and how confident, safe, and secure they will feel when doing so. They also have a major influence on a person’s sense of well-being and their ability to use the environment independently and without undue effort. There is now significant research to suggest that colour and light affect both behaviour and concentration. Refreshing schools can also be an opportunity to introduce clear signage and wayfinding strategies.  Using graphic design is a relatively inexpensive method of promoting the schools vision and ethos.

Can new furniture alone deliver improved teaching and learning?

It can be argued that major reforms will never happen using the same old furniture that has been used for the last 50 years. Furniture needs to work harder and it needs to support a whole range of teaching and learning styles. With this increased flexibility comes a requirement for higher quality and more robust furniture.

Careful selection of furniture and storage will give schools greater flexibility in the way in which classrooms are used, and in particular in the way that non-conventional spaces for either large group learning or peer-to-peer work are exploited. The most effective furniture strategies use a small number of standard furniture components that can be re-arranged in different formats. Similarly, furniture, storage units and equipment such as whiteboards that can be used as mobile screening will enable smaller groups to function effectively in larger spaces including a conventional classroom module. Storage provision is particularly important to flexible space strategies, as the ability to reconfigure space is reduced by clutter.

Integration of new technologies

Integrating the ICT solution in an area identified as undergoing refresh can often be very challenging.  Wireless signals are sometimes patchy and the new standards of data cables can be difficult to route through existing buildings in an unobtrusive manner. Designers need to innovate and move on from a ‘one size fits all’ solution to a mixed economy that uses well designed furniture to combine specific areas with fixed equipment for more data intensive work with more flexible and agile areas where mobile devices are supported with reliable local wireless networks.

Ideas:

Achieving the unexpected

• Applying colour to existing surfaces is one of the cheapest ways of transforming space.  Be thoughtful, consider the psychological effects that colour brings. The publication, ‘The Colour, Light and Contrast Manual: Designing and Managing Inclusive Built Environments’ by Keith Bright and Geoffrey Cook is a very useful source of reference.
• Consider the furniture as an integral part of the design process, not to be simply picked from a single furniture manufacturer’s catalogue.
• Use furniture to define space and inform the different behaviours, learning styles and teaching methods.
• Consider the impact of fixed ICT very carefully. Is a row of fixed computers strictly necessary or would more mobile solutions provide greater flexibility?  Wireless solutions in selective areas combined with specific fixed points for higher bandwidth use can make a space work more intensively.