Evelyn Grace Academy by Zaha Hadid Architects in Brixton, South London

In an effort to decrease costs, the UK government has placed a ban on curved glass and folding walls for its public schools, while ordering concrete ceilings and render cladding. The curve ban is just one part of a new generation of “no-frills” school buildings, which will be 15% smaller than previously built schools, cutting space on corridors, assembly halls, and lunch rooms. Read more.

Evelyn Grace Academy by Zaha Hadid Architects in Brixton, South London

The government recently released a set of design templates for 261 new replacement buildings, allowing architects and builders bidding for the £2.5 billion worth of contracts to have a better understanding what is expected from these smaller schools. The templates prohibit a whole series of design interventions, ranging from simple internal partitions that divide classrooms to the more lavish roof terraces that act as play areas. The concept of standardized, functional schools isn’t all bad, but it’s hard not to take the ban a little personally when Michael Gove, the secretary of education, is making statements like, “We won’t be getting Richard Rogers to design your school. We won’t be getting any award-winning architects to design it, because no one in this room is here to make architects richer.”

After the government revealed the initial plans for the baseline designs, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) responded with a series of five key concerns, blasting the plan and asking for specifications and clarity in reference to the templates to ensure the prevention of “the erosion of design quality in the tender process.”

The 5 RIBA Concerns:

1. A “one size fits all” approach will place a straitjacket on future generations of teaching professionals and quickly render these schools redundant in the light of developments in pedagogy and technology.
2. The minimal circulation spaces have the potential for serious congestion, with the consequential impact on behavior and well-being.
3. The low-energy environmental strategy is welcomed, but the success of the layout is predicated on optimal conditions that may be difficult to achieve in reality.
4. The RIBA has serious reservations about the ability of the baseline designs to accommodate students and staff with disabilities and in general to meet statutory access requirements.
5. A lack of engagement between sufficiently experienced design teams, educationalists and end-users risks these minimum requirements being delivered without consideration of the particular needs of each school community.

Photos: Luke Hayes

[via the guardian, architectsjournal]

by Ashley Wells

posted in Uncategorized

tagged ban, Banned, curved glass, curved walls, evelyn grace academy, government, Government ban, standardized, uk, UK government, United Kingdom, Zaha Hadid Architects

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