Designing a school is a unique challenge. Unlike other buildings, a school will undoubtedly have pride and ownership attached to it from a large number of stakeholders who are concerned not just about the building itself, but about the students and quality of education it represents. This isn't an office or a retail space. This is a school, where students learn, and futures are formed.
As you fill in this blank canvas, your thoughts should be returning to one thing over and over again: the students. So, when times are trying and your budget is straining and you know way too many contractors way too well, just remind yourself, it's about the kids. That's rule number one for your school design plans.
Spaces to learn
And when you're thinking about those kids, your thoughts will naturally turn to the spaces they will inhabit. This is where you get to be a futurist because as technology and the world itself change, so do learning methods.
Flexible classrooms and breakout spaces are the trend du jour, but learning is getting more and more mobile, and any nook or cranny could become an ad hoc learning space. Keep in mind how you can take advantage of that during the design process.
Transportation factors
When you're considering the needs of your students, it's not just about what you include inside the school, but how they get there. If most of them take the bus, for instance, your parking lots and entrances will have to accommodate that fleet. If parents prefer to drop off their kids, you'll need plenty of drive aisles space for small vehicles, too.
Proper signage and road paint also comes into play here. Making sure everyone knows where they're going on opening day can go a long way to reducing the kinds of hiccups that usually come with new facilities.
Planning for the weather
Transportation needs are a central aspect of another major consideration for any building project – the weather. Your climate will determine all sorts of design aspects, including material selection and energy consumption.
One key to an energy-efficient building are the windows. They account for 25-30% of a building's heat gain or loss, and they aren't all the same. People in colder climates will want to consider windows that best keep heat inside, such as gas-filled windows or ones with low-E coatings.
As for hotter climates, there are a couple of rating standards you can keep an eye out for. Look for windows with a low rating for solar heat gain coefficient, or SHGC; a lower SHGC rating means the window transfers less solar radiation. Also, consider the windows' U-factor; lower U-factors mean better energy efficiency.
Student comfort
The point of giving so much consideration to energy efficiency is multi-faceted. It's not just that striving for energy efficiency is the right thing to do from an environmental perspective – energy efficiency means keeping learning spaces comfortable as economically as possible.
Central to comfort in the classroom – or any workspace, for that matter – is temperature. Seventy-two degrees is generally considered optimal, and research has shown that when temperatures rise above that, performance decreases.
Space itself can matter, too. One influential factor is ceiling height. Higher ceilings have been connected to more creative brain processes, while lower ceilings have been associated with better focus.
So, for example, if you want to facilitate brainstorming in a particular space within your facility, high ceilings would make the most sense, but to promote more grounded thinking, low ceilings would best suit your needs.
Providing peace of mind
Another aspect of student comfort is their peace of mind. Students learn better when they feel secure, and an Emergency Notification System (ENS) can serve as a constant reminder that if something goes wrong, at least there's a plan.
Through the use of your building's intercom system and screens placed throughout the facility, an ENS makes it easier to quickly spread emergency messages for scenarios such as weather, fire and building intruders. Additionally, having a communication system in place can automate certain emergency responses, such as the notification of authorities.
Being late to class might not usually rise to the level of an emergency, but it's the kind of insidious problem that plagues teachers and students every day. So when you're thinking about your new building's synchronized clock system, consider digital clocks for the hallways.
Digital clocks offer better visibility, but they can also help students get to class on time, thanks to countdown features. That way, students can determine whether they have a minute to chat with their friends, or whether they have to start power-walking to avoid another tardy on their record.
