Feb 26 2007
Researchers from Coventry and Northampton Universities have won a £330,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to enable children and young people to have a real voice in the design of their school, and help them to achieve their full potential.
As children and young people spend most of their formative years in education, the design and refurbishment of nursery, primary and secondary schools is of vital importance. But, current design practice that impacts on children often fails to involve genuine consultation with end users.
Now, Dr Andree Woodcock from Coventry University’s Design and Ergonomics Applied Research Group and Dr Peter Kraftl from the University of Northampton have won a grant to investigate participatory design practices in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) program.
There are now many effective ways that children of all ages can make genuine contributions to the design of their school - for example, through interactive games and CAD.
Dr Andree Woodcock from Coventry University said: “At the moment we do not know what level of consultation there is with children. However, we would expect to find that where consultation exists there would be an increase in the appropriateness of the building and the satisfaction of teachers and pupils, a greater degree of care for the building, and an increased interest in design as well.”
The research will inform future school building and the Government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) program, which is helping address the problems of out of date building stock.
As schools need to meet the requirements of many diverse groups the research will examine design in 12 institutions in rural, town and inner city areas around Coventry and Northampton. It will also enable children and young people to voice their views on an environment that can help them to achieve their full potential.
The project is set to establish the benefits of successful input into the use of ergonomics in school design, such as increased satisfaction and more respect for the environment.
By encouraging feedback on design proposals it is anticipated that the scheme will help cut schools vandalism, which is a massive problem throughout the UK. Vandalism can damage morale, disrupt class work and impair the learning environment. Damage caused by vandalism in Hampshire schools alone costs almost £1m a year and in 2006 a report showed over 4,500 crimes in Kent and East Sussex schools were recorded in 14 months, many of which were theft and vandalism related.
Dr Andree Woodcock from Coventry University said: “The project will help increase a sense of ownership and responsibility for school buildings. There is a real need to engage sophisticated but disaffected young people in school design. BSF is not all about delivering shiny new buildings quickly. Its success will be strategic, not tactical - facilitating leadership, changing thinking, boosting standards.
“Many schools are currently failing to support pupils adequately because of poor building design. For example, with the increase in computers there are lots of machines in schools , but they are not embedded in the design - in some cases they are still being used in corridors. The BSF programme needs to consider ways in which future schools can better meet the requirements of users.