Education

The Flexible Use of Space in Educational Buildings

Education
Glass partition to separate two rooms
Glass partition to the outdoors
Glass partition to the outdoors

There has been a revolution in the design of school and college buildings. An unprecedented level of Government investment through the Academies, BSF, and Primary Capital Programme, has allowed specifiers the license to create inspiring environments for learning.

Flexible design to allow for short term changes of layout and use, as well as more long term alterations, has been identified as one of the key criteria for creating excellent secondary schools as set out by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE).

The Schools Design Panel states that in the design of the school the following should be addressed:

  • Is the design flexible allowing for a variety of uses and activities in different spaces?
  • Is there sufficient generosity in design to make future change relatively easy, for example adapting for changing classroom sizes?
  • Can teaching areas or other spaces be divided or combined to allow for different activities?
  • Will internal and external spaces work well for community/out of hours teaching space?
  • Can external spaces be utilised to enlarge teaching?

Alco Beldan also supply and install Glass Sliding Folding Door Systems to make access to play areas easy and vastly increases light into the classroom.