What should a well-designed school be like?

First and foremost, it should be functional and practical. It should provide a good space for learning and an easy, barrier-free access. It should be multifunctional and flexible so that its space can be rearranged and adjusted to various needs and activities.

School architecture should be safe for students and contribute to their well-being. The school building itself is also a teaching aid and has an educational function. Its design can provide students with lessons on spatial arrangement, proportion, the relationship between various elements and the choice of colour.

An equally important part of the school are the surrounding grounds. It is crucial that they allow students to interact with nature every day, which is necessary for their healthy development.

 

photograph: Educational and sports complex in Baranów, project: New Architects, photo: Maciej Lulko

Main photo - What should a well-designed school be like?
Close

AESTHETICS

The whole school is an art lesson which shapes our aesthetic choices for a long time. This is because we spend a huge part of our lives there. Our school experiences influence the way we perceive and shape our surrounding later in life. Moreover, the school building can teach us about architecture.

COLOUR

Colours have a huge impact on the way our brains work as well as on the emotions we feel:

  • bright colours boost our energy levels, attract our attention and help us focus,
  • intensive colours provoke aggressive behaviours and are used in places where people can let off steam, for example, in school corridors,
  • warm colours boost our energy levels as well, whereas cold colours help us calm down,
  • the right shade of green helps us relax and rest,
  • very dark colours overwhelm us,
  • the lack of contrast makes us sleepy,
  • too much contrast is annoying and vexing.

It is important to use colours in a deliberate way. The appropriate choice of colours contributes to our psychological well-being and makes us feel safe.

ENVIRONMENT

The school building can also provide important environmental lessons. If the school implements eco-friendly solutions, it sets a good example and teaches, for instance, how to save water and energy or how to sort waste. What is more, noise meters and air quality meters, installed in visible places, raise students’ awareness of the environmental issues.

NOISE

School buildings are particularly vulnerable to noise and reverberation. We all know how loud it can be in a school corridor during a break. Such noise can be compared to a motorway full of lorries moving at full speed. Designing silence is becoming a more and more important challenge for architects. Especially, since we know more and more about the harmful effects of noise. Silence, on the other hand, helps students improve their grades, reduces the level of stress and has a positive influence on their well-being.

It is possible to ensure appropriate propagation of sound already during the early stages of the design process. To do this we should avoid smooth, parallel walls as well as flat and long spaces which increase the level of noise. There are also many solutions which help to reduce noise, such as acoustic foam panels and acoustic screen panels. What is crucial, they are becoming more and more budget-friendly. These solutions can be implemented both in new buildings as well as during the redevelopment of the existing ones.