Flexibility Is The Key To The Future of K-12 Design
“Flexibility in the expansion and contraction of spaces through the use of creative design elements for screening, dividing, and opening, will drive K-12 design for the foreseeable future.”
From the moment schools started sending students home in March 2020, Covid-19 and its influence have been all anyone can talk about in the world of K-12 architecture and design. From desk spacing and plexiglass barriers, to HVAC filtration, and surface cleaning, the discussion has been focused almost entirely on safely getting kids back to school.
We’re now a few months into the fall semester, and in most school districts things are working well enough. So, it is now time to start planning for what comes next. No matter what, flexibility will be the key to success in the years to come.
At Edge Architecture we have been discussing the impact of recent events, and where to go from here.
What’s surprising is how little has changed from what was already underway before all this started. Budgets are constrained as always, but safety demands from parents, government agencies, students, teachers and their unions will invariably find a way to get the right projects funded.
Since one of the greatest limitations schools face is readily available physical space, moving classroom and other activities outdoors presents an immediate opportunity. Ahead of fall 2020 school opening in New York City, Mayor Bill DeBlasio said, “We know outdoors is one of the things that works… It's gonna open a lot of opportunities.”
Fabric canopies are a great way to make more use of outdoor spaces.
Taking the classroom (and other activities) outside provides a number of advantages, including fresh air, more sunlight, and more space for maintaining social distances.
Furthermore, when some students are outside, there is more room inside the building for wider spacing and modified flows. There are many comparatively inexpensive design possibilities for extending schools outside the building, including fabric canopies, portable furniture, as well as landscape inspired seating and other features. Each situation is unique, but nearly every school in America had untapped outdoor resources and assets. In northern states weather is a factor, but perhaps rearranging the school year could mitigate this. Thinking “outside of the school” is both an effective and fiscally responsible approach for 2021 and beyond.
With a renewed emphasis on Career Technical Education (CTE), many schools are looking to enhance and expand the areas of their buildings once considered secondary to other subject areas.
A rendering of a new Culinary Arts learning space for an Upstate New York High School
“Spaces for Specials” are becoming increasingly important as more and more students consider alternatives to the traditional “four-year college” plan. Areas designated for technology, culinary arts, video and music are being re-imagined as career focused centers. These spaces can also be designed to accommodate more than one discipline with portable furniture, workstations and equipment. Automotive technology, welding, HVAC and other trade-centric instruction are also well suited for at least partial outdoor space utilization.
Regardless of what each school needs for program spaces in the coming months and years, effective design will need to be rooted in flexible spaces with easily adaptable uses. From mobile furniture to easily movable partitions and highly durable surfaces, the traditional “fixed format” school will need to transform into a fluid place where changing conditions and regulations can be conformed to on short notice.
The team at Edge Architecture is not only capable of helping schools meet these challenges, we are excited to apply our skills to keep kids and teachers safe while giving school boards and parents the peace of mind that everything that can be done is being done.