Precious spaces in schools, how can we make them work for everyone?

The aim of this post is to consider the value of small rooms in schools with the intention of starting … More

Education in the time of Covid-19: who gets to decide and when? A call for increased participation in the design and adaptation of education and schools

This is a guest post by Dr Tom Bellfield, a part 2 architectural assistant at SCABAL, an architecture practice specialising … More

Mythologies of learning spaces in the time of Covid-19

The closure of many schools around the world in the past few months has given us a unique opportunity to … More

Mythologies of education in the time of Covid-19

This is a guest post by Catherine Burke, Professor Emerita of the History of Education at the University of Cambridge. … More

Designing therapeutic spaces in schools 5: the corridor and the cupboard, a case study

After several years of working with children in a busy primary school corridor, two teaching assistants trained in emotional literacy … More

Designing therapeutic spaces in schools 4: how to create a space from scratch

Here, I offer a practical perspective on creating a therapeutic space in a school, with comments from people who have … More

Designing therapeutic spaces in schools 3: how to communicate safety, security and stability

It is important to be aware that open-plan formats are not that helpful for these pupils. Let’s recognise how that … More

Designing therapeutic spaces in schools 2: four principles supporting their success

As adults, were we to visit a therapist or counsellor, it would be hard to imagine sitting in an open-plan … More

Designing therapeutic spaces in schools 1: an introduction

The design of spaces in schools for therapeutic purposes is the focus of this series of posts. These are spaces … More

A new design for Harlem School of the Arts: an interview with John Storyk, architect and acoustician

John Storyk is the Founding Partner and Director of Design of Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG): an architect and acoustician … More

City Schools as Meeting Places

Text of a talk I gave at the Université de Montréal connecting architectural ideas of the “in-between” to educational discussions on “meeting places”.

Disappearing School Libraries – Why?

School libraries seem to be disappearing – I suggest this is related to their being “illegible” in terms of how space in schools is valued.

Designing the ‘in-between’: Alison Clark’s micro-history of a welfare room

“School design, which is finely tuned to the full range of activities and needs of adults and children who inhabit … More

Putting Children (and Values?) into Architectural Plans of Schools

Aldo van Eyck put children into his architectural drawings to influence ideas of schools. Can you add “values” too in this way?

How to make a basic school design pedagogically interesting? Learning from a case in Ecuador.

A guest post by Beatrice Balfour and Alejandra Manena Vilanova telling their story of co-designing a school near Cuenca, Ecuador.

Interview with Jeremy Till on Schools, Contingency, Flexibility and Competitions

Interview with the architect, educator and writer Jeremy Till on a range of issues involving architecture and school design.

Why Carillion and PFI Matter for Building and Designing Schools

How we fund and procure new schools matters. This post draws together some reasons why in the light of Carillion.

3 Cambridge Seminars, 2018: Educational Aims and Values through Architecture

3 Seminars at the Faculty of Education, Cambridge University exploring the role of the built environment in education and schools.

Schools of Tomorrow but Rooted in Society – an Interview with Silvia Fehrmann of Berlin’s HKW

An interview with Silvia Fehrmann, curator of HKW’s conference “Schools of Tomorrow” on schools and society.

The Purposes and Functions of Schooling: some reasons governments give for building schools

Why do governments say they build schools? It’s not as simple as providing “education”.

Measuring and Evaluating as Rhetorical Management

Are evaluation and measuring a form of rhetorics? A political art of obscuring the political? What’s Post-Occupancy Evaluation got to do with it?

What High Schools Look Like and Why

After 1968, James Ackerman, Giancarlo De Carlo and others questioned school design: why? why like this? This post revisits their questions.

What Are We Building Schools For Again?

For OECD and UNICEF, the well-being of UK young people is not good. Is it time to rethink the aim of school architecture?

An Interview with Jill Blackmore on space, learning, feminism and the politics of education

Professor Jill Blackmore discusses learning spaces, teachers’ work, feminism and the complexity of education.

An Ideal School-Building Programme

Thinking about some of the differences between school-building programmes in Australia, England and Italy got me wondering – what would … More

The spaces have to really want to change: an interview with architect Ruth Taylor

Ruth Taylor was born in London, England and attended schools in Surrey and Buckinghamshire. Prior to studying Architecture at University … More

Architecture and Education seminar: two-footed stories of exploration. May 11th 2016, University of Cambridge

Over the past three years, an innovative collaborative research partnership, funded by the AHRC has been established between the Faculty … More

Italy’s ‘Competition of Ideas’ for a New School-Building Programme

Italy’s “Competition of Ideas” for Innovative Schools could stimulate architectural & educational debate.

Rising to the challenge: an interview with Helen Taylor, architect

Helen Taylor is Practice Director at Scott Brownrigg, responsible for the strategic planning and implementation of programmes to enhance technical … More

When School Architecture Meant System Architecture

In 1811, Joseph Lancaster publishes his Hints and Directions for Building, Fitting Up, and Arranging School Rooms, one of the … More

Schools and School Design in Africa: An Interview with Ola Uduku

Ola Uduku (Edinburgh University) speaks about the historical influence of Western pedagogies and architectural traditions and their local adaptation in school design.

Futures for English School Design

The following is a list of things we learned during the Education Estates conference, held in Manchester on 10-11th November … More

Why are people so fixated on area in schools and not on cost?

I returned home from the Education Estates* conference in Manchester earlier this week with one question lodged firmly in my head: … More

Does a School Building need to look like a School?

…is a question posed by the architect of the school where I’m doing my research. It came up in an … More

A less modern but more hi-tech primary: more from the DfE’s PSBP

Following yesterday’s cheaper, faster … and better?  post, I must apologise for a lack of thoroughness in my research of … More

PBSP school buildings in the UK: cheaper, faster… better?

A Victorian-era community primary has been rebuilt as a modern replacement primary academy in the West Midlands of England and … More

A school on the edge of a small town

Treetops Primary is to be sited on the edge of a small town in the South of England on a … More

Interview with Dominic Cullinan, SCABAL

Dominic Cullinan is an architect and founding partner of SCABAL (Studio Cullinan & Buck Architects Ltd.) based in Hatton Garden. … More