How can school spaces be designed to inspire?

The last 2 years have revolutionized the way we experience houses, schools and workplaces. With Pandemic, students and families learn in brand-new ways and acquire new habits.

New types of learning and pedagogical programming have been developed. Physical, Cognitive and Emotional wellbeing becomes central and will drive the design of ny educational spaces.

Designing (or redesigning) an educational space that fully suits the school’s needs can be challenging, especially when the pandemic made us rethink what a learning space should be.

We know that the physical environment plays a significant role in children’s ability to access learning and meet their potential. However, not much research has been done to understand how the design of a school can impact emotional wellbeing.

What can be done to transform educational spaces from institutional to inspirational?

How can schools design spaces to promote emotional and cognitive wellbeing beyond math and literature?

Designing a learning space is more difficult now than ever before because it has to serve multiple purposes simultaneously: as a place where children learn core curriculum subjects such as math or history; as an area where children can get exercise by playing tether ball or jump rope during recess; and finally as somewhere safe from contamination should there ever be another outbreak of pandemic influenza virus spread through air droplets from coughs or sneezes (pandemic flu).

Prior to the pandemic, schools were built with classrooms that could hold 20 to 40 students at most. But now, with so many kids in one classroom and not enough teachers to go around, we’ve had to make some changes. The classrooms are bigger and more open. They’re designed for collaboration among students and teachers alike — and they’re also easy for first responders like police officers or firefighters to access in case of emergency.

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In what ways can future school buildings be designed with pandemic learning lessons in mind?

By identifying what worked and what did not.

In the event of unforeseen circumstances, was the school's environment able to quickly adapt?

Insted of jump straight and focus on the new program, new school′s functions, and talking about materials and features, let’s take a step back.

When you are ready to create your creative brief, don′t rush into it. Sit down and observe your students' and staff behaviour. Hear with your eyes and ask yourself:

• Do you have today any outdoor classrooms incorporated into the landscape?
• Are interior spaces naturally lit and well ventilated?
• Do you see any quiet areas and places for informal learning?
• Are you providing, as a school, different learning environments to your students?

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Schools are more than just a classroom.

Physical, Cognitive and Emotional wellbeing becomes central and will drive the design of educational spaces.

Our learning spaces need to be rethought in response to recent events, the rise of technology, and the changes in demographics. As a school, here some ideas you can consider when working towards creating inspirational educational places for the future:

? Spaces for unstructured time

? Technology-free zones

? Practicing self-awareness

? Providing informal learning spaces

? Places where you can be quiet

? Learning about social and emotional issues

? Places where joy, play, and discovery can take place

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It is my hope that this article has inspired you to look beyond traditional learning spaces and helped you choose the best learning environment for your child!

#architecture?#arkitektur?#process?#design?#creativity #schooldesign #skole

Thank you for reading!

-Danila-

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