Designs on your school
The Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) Schools Programme was set up to help Local Authorities use good design to deliver Curriculum for Excellence in better schools. This was an ambitious yet straightforward enough remit to coax me back into the public sector after 25 years of selling strategic design advice to over 100 organisations. Our small team was established as a separate programme within A+DS in 2008, tasked with informing policy making, helping local authorities, and influencing project delivery.
My experience of running the programme has taught me two things: participation is the way we do things in Scotland, and collaboration is the way we make decisions in Scotland.
This doesn’t seem like a big deal until you share this approach with international colleagues facing similar challenges and with similar ambitions. For me the key difference is that while many are still debating an elusive future, we are getting on with rebuilding our schools as best we can through Scotland’s Schools for the Future.
To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld – there are known unknowns and there are unknown unknowns. What we do know is that some of our pupils are in buildings we need to replace, so that’s what we’re doing.
We know that pupils, staff, and communities know their own lives better than we do, so that’s why we talk to them first. We know that collaborating for better outcomes leads to . . . better outcomes. And I know that design matters.
What this has led to on the ground is what I call incremental radicalism. Rather than wait for the epiphany which is the ultimate school design, we can simply learn from others – whether it’s from the school down the road or from the innovative global projects showcased in Making Space 2010.
Does this mean I lack ambition? Perhaps what I lack is patience. I do not know the future – and neither do you. But I do see good things happening which should be shared, good ideas which should be celebrated, and good people who should be supported.
We ask our schools to do remarkable things every day. If you know a better way of how design can help make that possible, then please let me know.
Sam Cassels
The Schools Programme
Architecture and Design Scotland
1 comment
I am lucky enough to be working in a briliant (but not necessarily perfect) new build (6 years old) The building makes a very positive contribution to the education of the pupils.
It has space which can be flexible when needed. It has lots of light and outstanding outdoor spaces.
The school and its pupils were involved from the early planning stages. Their views were listened to and the design team that listened most effectively was the design which was eventually picked. this involvement of the pupils was a significant benefit.