Thinking outside the school design box
For public school districts facing construction projects, there is a lot to learn: how to finance the building; how to sell the concept to taxpayers; and at the most basic level, how to create schools that will make students eager to learn. Increasingly, that task is falling to the architects who not only design the blueprints, but also plan the campus, design the interior, even choose furniture and equipment.One local firm, HMFH Architects Inc. of Cambridge, has won awards for its recent designs at the MATCH Media and Technology Charter High School in Boston and the Baldwin Elementary School in Cambridge. Laura A. Wernick, a partner, spoke with Marie C. Franklin of the Globe staff about the challenges facing both communities and the architects who design their schools.
Q: Winston Churchill once said, ''We shape our buildings, and afterwards they shape us." What shape are American schools in?
A: An enormous number of buildings across the country are badly in need of repair. At the beginning of the 1900s, a lot of money was spent to build urban schools.
After World War II, the growth was in the suburbs, and urban schools were ignored. Now we have both urban schools in need of attention and suburban schools built in the '50s and '60s that need to be looked after. Often it's easier to build new than fix up the old, but today, more communities are looking at their older buildings and seeing the historic and community value.
Q: What is the leading-edge thinking on school design?
A: The cutting-edge thought is to personalize education and reach kids more effectively. The school facilities and educational theory have to go hand in hand. It's an exciting time because there are a lot of different approaches being taken depending on the grade level. For example, the new MATCH Media and Technology Charter High School in Boston has dormitories on the third floor for college students who live upstairs and mentor the high school students. At the Met School in Providence, kids have individualized learning programs that involve apprenticeships in the community. The school is different than any you've ever seen. There's a large community room and small meeting and study rooms, but no traditional classrooms.
In Cambridge at the renovated Baldwin School, there's an incredible use of natural light. Studies have shown that children learn more effectively and test higher in well-controlled natural light settings. In general, the school corridor is no longer just a corridor. Now there are breakout spaces for learning and social activity. The cafeteria may look more like a food court in a shopping mall, and in many schools, the cafeteria is open all the time.
Q: How would schools look different if they were designed to make students better learners?
A: There would be a variety of spaces that allow for project-based, hands-on learning. Schools would be more open as a community resource. In the lower grades, classrooms would be designed to be a theater for exploration where there would be different kinds of seating arrangements instead of the rectangular boxes and desks we are used to.
You might have a greenhouse where kids would learn about biology, workshops where they would build things. The high school classroom might look more like an office where students would come together for planning in the morning and then go off and work at a circular table, on their own or with a colleague. There wouldn't be a teacher's desk in the front of the room. Finally, it should go without saying that a good learning environment must have good indoor air, thermal and acoustical quality, but sometimes not enough attention is paid to these.
Q: School districts are slated to spend billions of dollars modernizing or building new schools over the next 10 years. At the same time, many communities are facing budget cuts. Don't architects make projects more expensive?
A: Architects can actually help communities plan effectively, realistically, and creatively so that their dollars are used well. To get the most bang for your buck, you need to work with someone who not only understands the mechanics of the construction industry but also understands how learning can be impacted by physical space.
