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The effects of economic recession on the quality of education buildings. An introduction by Architects4Education principle Dr Chris French.
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RIBA SCHOOLS CLIENT FORUM
Recessionary Trends in School Design & Construction
By Dr. Christopher French PhD.,Dip Arch., RIBA.
architects4education
THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND RESEARCH
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different
results”
Albert Einstein
REAL RESEARCH INTO THE HISTORY OF SCHOOL DESIGN
• PhD thesis (pub 1996) looking at primary school design in conservative controlled L.A. over the previous 20 year period
• 147 primary schools studied• 25 in depth• Interviews with range of staff• Staff completed 100 part questionnaire & scored• Interviews with design teams, educationalists and past
members of staff• Research into 21 small scale offsite extensions to schools in
Eastern Region (pub 2006)
RECESSIONARY TRENDS
DRAMATIC REDUCTION IN SPACE STANDARDS
ILLUSTRATION D119 - ANNUAL AVERAGE AREA PER PLACE IN ESSEX PRIMARY SCHOOLS
YEAR
AR
EA
( S
Q M
) P
ER
PLA
CE
ESSE
X S
CH
OO
LS
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93
AVERAGE
AREA/PLACE
NOTE
Areas based upon medians abstracted from major project committee brochures
KEY
Based on an analysis of 147 new schools and extensions (see French, C. P., 1995d)
This graph shows the average area per place acheived in new Essex primary schools year by year.
365
Periods of cuts in public expenditure
SPACE STANDARDS
• Small teaching area• Open plan with no dedicated circulation• Reduced storage• No specialist spaces
SPACE STANDARDS
Typical crowded open plan class base of a recession school
SPACE STANDARDS
Reduced space for coats and storage in a recession school
SPACE STANDARDS
Very little pure circulation in a recession school
QUALITY STANDARDS
• Poor quality deep plan internal environment• Poor quality materials requiring expensive
maintenance• Poor quality external works• Poor quality quality furniture and equipment
QUALITY STANDARDS
Poor quality daylight, acoustics and ventilation in deep plan schools
QUALITY STANDARDS
The use of poor quality materials leading to expensive maintenance
QUALITY STANDARDS
Featureless external environment at a recession school
PARSIMONY CAN BECOME A WAY OF LIFE
“I don’t care how much it cost as long as it looks cheap” – Deputy County Architect
OFF SITE SYSTEM BUILDING - MCB
• Economies of scale only worked for simple box like plans
• Costs increased dramatically if designers produced special designs to suit site demands
• Local planners/individual schools disliked its bland appearance and inflexibility
• The economics failed as the programme of investment dropped during recessionary periods and traditional build became significantly cheaper
OFF SITE SYSTEM BUILDING - MCB
Typical box like MCB school with added features
OFF SITE SYSTEM BUILDING – SMALL SCALE EXTENSIONS
• Research for 4 Eastern Region LAs• 21 Case studies 9 different systems• Cost can be 10% cheaper than traditional build• Total programme time no different from traditional
build • Onsite operations can be a challenge• M&E can be a challenge• Clients suffered from poor communications• Clients need to think carefully and weigh up pros and
cons before choosing off site construction
OFF SITE SYSTEM BUILDING – SMALL SCALE EXTENSIONS
Timber frame
Concrete panel
Steel frame
Timber panel
CONCLUSIONS• We need to use the experience of past recessions to argue for limits to the
present reduction in standards• We cannot prove the positive effect of good design on future education
performance standards but we can probably prove the negative effects of poor quality schools in the past
• There must be many schools, out there, living with a school built during a recession. They are struggling with the effects of reduced standards and they could help make the case
• Off site construction will not necessarily deliver reduced cost over traditional build particularly for smaller extensions
• We need to invest in proper research now if we are to have the facts available for the next recession
architects4education