Creating great remodelled schools Setting the scene

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Creating great remodelled schools Setting the
scene

• 25 March 2009
• Peter Maxwell
• Head of enabling - public buildings

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Outline

• Background
• Why remodel? What are the considerations?
• Approaching remodelling schools what to look
  for
• Summary

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1. Background

• CABE Education
• BSF / PCP / Surestart - client / LA focus
• Importance of good design
• Policy Guidance
• Every Child Matters
• Childrens Plan
• Extended Schools
• Building Bulletins
• Co-location fund CLG coordinated accessible
  public services

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1. Background

• BSF and PCP programmes
• Many school projects could involve all of the
  following
• New-build extensions
• Refurbishment internally and / or externally
• Refreshing of existing spaces, i.e. coat of paint
  or new flooring
• Remodelling more comprehensive change in
  chararacter

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Robust design through the ages
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
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British Museum
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Remodelling and redefining
British Museum, Great Court Architects Foster
Partners
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2. Why remodel?

• Positive opportunity to improve the potential of
  existing schools
• Transforming educational buildings LA / Heads
  with design supply chain
• What are some of the considerations / positives?
• Credit / Carbon crunch
• Social / economic sustainability
• Continuity
• Identity
• Historic buildings
• Disruption
• Space standards
• Functionality

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Carbon crunch
The UK Government is currently committed to a
national carbon emissions reduction of 60 by
2050 schools should be exceeding this
target. Sustainable Development Commission,
December 2008.
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Schools carbon footprint

• English schools estate emits 8.5 million tonnes
  of carbon dioxide each year.
• Taking current rebuilding programmes into
  account, 42 per cent from emissions from
  construction activity
• Remodelling lifecycle costing / whole life
  value

SDC 2008 analysis of schools estate
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Social / economic sustainability
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Continuity

• Retaining the existing building can preserve some
  of the ethos and character of the school and can
  signify this to the community

City Islington FE College Architects
Wilkinson Eyre
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Strengthen identity

• A new entrance welcomes the community
• Atrium used as meeting place pupils and visitors

Charter School Architects Penoyre Prasad
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Space standards

• Can achieve more space than an equivalent new
  build
• Refurbishment of this classroom has created a
  high-quality learning environment with good
  daylighting.

Parliament Hill School Architects Haverstock
Associates
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Reducing disruption

• Relocation to temporary sites can mean more
  disruption for the students than if the work is
  phased around them
• Greater continuity in the life of the school
• avoids feeling of the old school closing down

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Using historic buildings

• New elements are juxtaposed against the adapted
  1880s Victorian school

Royal Latin School Architects Greenhill Jenner
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3. Approaching remodelling projects

• Preparation
• Strategic issues
• Determining educational / space requirements etc
• Understanding what you have (what works / doesnt
  work)
• DQIs / stakeholder participation to help uncover
  this

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Developing requirements for each school

• Two interlinked issues educational vision and a
  specific building project
• What is the individual school vision?
• E.g. - Equipped for 21st Century learning, at
  the heart of the community, with a full range of
  childrens services in reach of every family
• Wanting to provide 21st Learning through
  personalised learning / experiential learning /
  working in partnership with parents / focussing
  on social and personal development skills /
  operating as an extended school
• What are the built environment issues?
• Is the school on a single site or spread across
  different sites?
• What is the relationship of the school to the
  community it serves?
• What is the relationship of the school site to
  its surroundings?
• What should the internal environment look and
  feel like in the light of the schools vision for
  learning?

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LEA / School Brief / vision

• What the school can bring client brief
• Description of typical day in the life of the
  school currently and after PCP / BSF
• Organisational structure of school
• Ethos and values of school educational vision
• Activities to be accommodated including out of
  hours community use etc
• Frequency of different activities usage of
  different accommodation
• Adjacencies between accommodation
• Arrangements for community access / security
• Ways the school may change in future in
  relation to pedagogy etc

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Understanding what you have

• Budget / timescale constraints
• Risks unknowns
• Importance of condition surveys structure /
  services
• Impact of Regulations DDA
• Consents planning / LBC

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Understanding what you have
Hoyle Nursery, Bury Architects DSDHA
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Understanding what you have
Hoyle Nursery, Bury Architects DSDHA
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Understanding what you could have

• Design consultation
• Linked into culture change of the school
• Visits to other buildings
• Benchmarking

Kingsdale School, London Architects dRMM
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Understanding what you have
Dont forget the outside
Mulberry school, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
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Understanding what you have

• Importance of furniture

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Realising the potential

• Holistic vision
• Shared understanding between client and design
  supply chain
• Phasing implementation

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Holistic vision - masterplan

• Sequential testing of LA estate?
• Heads / LAs / community as key expert in this
  process
• Masterplan approach
• From whole LA
• To single school development plan

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Holistic vision whole school site
Avoiding uncoordinated incremental development!
Cleeve School, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Archite
cts Cube Design
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Kintore Primary Childrens Centre Cottrell
Vermeulen Architects
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Circus Space, Hoxton, London Architects Tim
Ronalds
Phasing
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Stoke Newington School, Hackney Architects
Gollifer Langston/ Shepheard Epstein Hunter
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4. Summary

• Remodelled schools are not second best
• Some of the best projects come from working with
  existing school buildings
• Success depends upon both the endeavours of the
  clients and design / supply chain to get the most
  out of remodelling schools
• Opportunity to learn from others not just
  schools!

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Thank you.
Peter Maxwell, Head of enabling - public
buildings pmaxwell_at_cabe.org.uk www.cabe.org.uk