With school enrollment projected to increase at record levels through 2013, spending on school construction, renovation and maintenance was expected to total nearly $30 billion annually. Yet, economic times are much tougher now, and making good design decisions has never been more difficult or more important. To find out how to do more with less, architects, school board members and administrators must attend the Schools of the 21st Century Symposium. It will be held April 3, the day before the NSBA Conference at the Marriott San Diego Hotel and Marina. The event is free of charge and will be presented by Architectural Record with the support of McGraw-Hill Education and the American Architectural Foundation.
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Product Profiles
Spaces for Social Learning
We began by establishing principles that can guide any kind of enlightened school design. One is that the built environment facilitates discovery through active participation. Another is that growth occurs when students are allowed personal responsibility.
A central atrium (top) offers a big space where students can gather to eat, play games, or watch a performance. Seating and workspaces at lockers (middle and above) provide more-intimate places to socialize and study.
Drawings: © Liselle Coker (top); David Mackay, Miller Hull partnership, (middle and above)
Team from left: Cliff Hardison, Thomas Jefferson High School; Ruth Coates, AIA, Miller Hull Partnership; Liselle Coker, Howard University; Kerry Leonard, AIA, OWP/P
Finally, opportunities for one-on-one interaction foster social awareness of other cultures’ perspectives and ideas. We confined our discussions and design concepts to finding ways to encourage the kind of learning that occurs when students are socializing with each other informally. We already knew that multi-story atria found in shopping malls are successful in attracting kids and encouraging interaction. This idea is as old as the Greek agora. And yet, the controlled chaos and excitement of centralized spaces is not conducive to the social learning of all types of students. We designed arc-shaped seating pods built around lockers, which are, in most schools, the only form of personal space, where students can gather for peer-to-peer and small group study. To maintain the connection to the atrium, we substituted balconies for typical double-loaded corridors in the levels above the main floor. Schools should provide a flexible framework that allows students the freedom to achieve common educational goals in individual ways. Providing spaces—large and small—for groups gives them the freedom they need to develop personal responsibility skills.