SaA Vidya.Ya VimukTaYe (Liberty through Knowledge)

From http://www.wbdg.org/design/elementary.php

A. Types of Spaces

Fundamental space types for elementary schools include, but are not limited to:

· Administrative Offices

· Art facility

· Cafeteria—In elementary schools, the cafeteria often doubles as the auditorium, aka "cafetorium."

· Classroom—Daylighting is most important in classrooms, where most teaching and learning occurs.

· Common areas/courtyards

· Gymnasium

· Health Services

· Lobby—Schools often showcase team trophies in the foyer or feature a colorful display at child's eye level.

· Media Center—Schools are changing traditional libraries into media centers, adapting to new technology, as well as to other issues such as comfort, flexibility and maximum use of space.

· Multipurpose Rooms

· Music Education

· Restrooms

· Science Facility

B. Important Design Considerations

ACCESSIBILITY

· Design spaces to meet the specific needs of students and teachers with disabilities. SeeAmericans with Disabilities Act. Refer to ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

· The United States Access Board, which supports ADA implementation, recognizes that poor acoustics also have a negative impact on hearing-impaired students. ANSI/ASA Standard S12.60-2002, Acoustical Performance Criteria, Design Requirements and Guidelines for Schools, specifies acoustical performance criteria for learning spaces.

· Design for future flexibility, which enables spaces to be easily modified.

AESTHETICS

The importance of the physical appearance of a public school should not be minimized. A school building that is attractive and responds to and is consistent with the design and context of the neighborhood, builds a sense of pride and ownership among students, teachers, and the community. The exterior should complement the neighborhood and reflect the community's values. The interior should enhance the learning process.

· Bring the community into the planning process through an integrated design process.

· Provide an interior environment that is visually comfortable and stimulating by integrating natural and artificial lighting, eliminating glare, and incorporating colors that stimulate or soothe, depending on the space function.

· Design for diffuse, uniform daylight throughout classrooms.

· Avoid direct-beam sunlight.

· Use a daylighting analysis tool to integrate lighting systems, controls, and materials that reflect or absorb light.

COST-EFFECTIVE

School districts typically separate their capital and operating budgets and therefore have little incentive to factor in the long-term cost of a building when making decisions about its design and construction. However, to reduce the total cost of owning a building while ensuring its quality, it is necessary to balance the initial design and construction costs with the cost of lighting, heating, cooling, repairing, and otherwise operating and maintaining the facility.

· Select building elements on the basis of life-cycle cost analysis—Mirror the lifespan of projects and systems with the expected lifespan of the facility.

· Consider the recyclability of materials.

· Specify materials and products that are easy to maintain (balance this with their impact on children's health and the environment).

· Utilize life-cycle cost analysis tools.

· Commission the facility to ensure that it operates in a manner consistent with design intent.

· Use energy simulation and analysis tools to optimize energy performance (integrate daylighting systems, high-performance HVAC, energy-efficient building shell, and high-performance electric lighting)

FUNCTIONAL

To foster students' sense of community and individuality:

· Cluster classrooms around common areas.

· Connect spaces visually with colors and patterns, particularly for primary school children.

· Provide platform spaces for gathering, sitting, and presenting and alcoves for quiet play, reflection, and reading.

· Consider Educational Commissioning™ where all occupants are educated on the intent of the design elements and know how to use the facility optimally for teaching and learning. This can be a basic process for elementary schools, with increasing levels of sophistication for higher grades.

· Decentralize administrative spaces to encourage active leadership and maximize interaction with students.

· Provide a "home base" for each student and teacher.

To ensure flexibility and adaptability for changing programs and enrollments:

· Use operable walls to increase the efficiency of large, multi-purpose spaces, such as the cafeteria and gymnasium.

· Accommodate technology upgrades.

· Allow classrooms to change with the activity and group size. This is particularly important in primary schools, where students typically stay in one room with one teacher throughout much of the day.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Historic school buildings—those that are 50 years of age or older—were typically the centers of their communities and were designed to optimize natural ventilation and daylighting. Communities should study the history of their schools and become involved in the planning of new schools in order to make wise decisions regarding renovation versus new construction. All of the pros and cons of renovating an old school should be weighed, such as:

· Structural integrity

· Community access

· Building orientation—solar access

· Daylighting opportunities (i.e., large windows) and possible barriers (multi-story buildings)

· Other features that enhance or hinder visual/thermal/acoustic comfort

· Potential to upgrade for energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety and security, and technology

· Aesthetics

· Community landmark; historic significance

· Proximity to residential neighborhoods (potential for walking/bicycling to school)

· Site disturbance

For information about preserving, rehabilitating, restoring, or reconstruction historic buildings see WBDG Historic Preservation Branch.

PRODUCTIVE

Dena Boer Elementary School—Salida, California
Skylights are used to distribute natural daylight to the classrooms, library, multipurpose room, and offices of this 800-student, K-5 school. Louvers installed in the skylight wells help control daylight levels and can be used to darken rooms when necessary. Classroom windows provide additional daylight and are protected by deep overhangs that control direct sunlight and glare.

Elementary schools should enhance the health and productivity of students, teachers, and staff.

· Make daylighting a priority, especially in classrooms. See U.S. DOE Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools (PDF 3.3 MB). Daylighting is the controlled admission of natural light into a space. Glare and hot spots can undermine the learning process. Studies show a positive correlation between daylighting and student performance.

· Integrate daylighting with high-efficient electric lighting and controls to optimize visual comfort.

· Use natural ventilation when possible. (This and daylighting also provides a connection to the outdoors.)

· Ensure acoustical comfort. Poor classroom acoustics are more than merely annoying. If young children are unable to hear their teacher, they usually are unable to "fill in the blanks" as adults with life experience are able to do, and this can disrupt learning. Chronic exposure to noise has been shown to be harmful to children.

· Ensure superior indoor air quality. Children typically are more sensitive to indoor air pollutants than adults and more likely to suffer ill effects such as allergies and asthma. See U.S. EPA Healthy School Environment Resources. Considerdisplacement ventilation systems.

· Ensure thermal comfort. "Right size" HVAC systems to keep humidity in the comfort zone. Give teachers control over the temperature of individual classrooms.

· Embrace the concept of the building as a teaching tool (aka a 3-D textbook or living lab)

· Connect the indoor environment to the outdoors by providing operable view windows in classrooms and easy access from classrooms to gardens and other outdoor areas that can be utilized in the curriculum.

SECURE / SAFE

· Providing safe schools should be a high priority.

· Maximize visual access to corridors and school grounds.

· Increase occupants' sense of ownership and "territoriality" by providing comfortable, not institutional, rooms and by clearly defining the school boundaries.

· Control access to the building and grounds by individuals and vehicles.

· Use durable, non-toxic building materials.

· Provide shelter in cases of emergency. See FEMA 428—Primer to Design Safe School Projects in Case of Terrorist Attacks and FEMA Safe Rooms and Community Shelters Case Studies.

· Accommodate safe egress from the building in case of emergency.

Boscawen Elementary School-Boscawen, NH: 'Room like,' non-institutional corridors, plenty of views out and in, and windows between the classrooms and the hallway all combine to improve safety and sense of security

Roy Lee Walker Elementary School - McKinney, Texas, Independent School District: Rain is harvested from the roof of this 608-student, K-5 school, and used to water the grounds and flush the toilets year round. The water is stored in six above-ground cisterns designed as integral components of the overall architecture of the facility.

Left: Boscawen Elementary School—Boscawen, New Hampshire
'Room like,' non-institutional corridors, plenty of views out and in, and windows between the classrooms and the hallway all combine to improve the safety and sense of security in this New Hampshire school.
Right: Roy Lee Walker Elementary School—McKinney, Texas, Independent School District
Rain is "harvested" from the roof of this 608-student, K-5 school, and used to water the grounds and flush the toilets year round. The water is stored in six above-ground cisterns designed as integral components of the overall architecture of the facility.

SUSTAINABLE

· Use energy, water, and other resources efficiently.

· Integrate renewable energy strategies, including passive solar design and, where appropriate, solar thermal and photovoltaics.

· Integrate high-performance mechanical and lighting systems.

· Conserve and protect natural areas. Provide barriers that protect children and plants and wildlife.

· Incorporate materials and products derived from sustainable-yield processes and/or are manufactured locally.

· Provide opportunities for safe walking and bicycling to school.

EMERGING ISSUES

Demand is on the rise for schools that feature high-performance design and technologies to enhance learning, support community use, and function well during natural and manmade disasters. At the same time, resources for school planning, design, construction, and operation are constrained. The challenge is to build high quality schools efficiently. Community shared spaces and life-cycle cost analysis are two ways that designers are meeting this challenge.

Scientists, planners, design professionals, public officials, school administrators, parents, teachers, and students are informing the current dialogue about optimal school design:

· Scientists who study the "neuroscience of learning" are finding that certain lighting, acoustics, and spatial relationships support or hinder the learning process.

· Planners and designers are involving community stakeholders in their design decisions and spurring the development of joint-use facilities that are centers of the community.

· Concerns about safety and security (within the school and within the community) are more acute than ever, prompting innovative thinking about design strategies that minimize the impact of natural and manmade hazards. Schools with back-up, off-grid, renewable power systems can double as emergency shelters. See NREL Solar Secure Schools: Strategies and Guidelines (PDF 696 KB).

· State and local officials are recognizing that school facilities—the physical buildings—are important to their programmatic success. Several states have established new design guidelines and requirements for "high performance" schools whose features promote student/teacher health and productivity, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability.

· School administrators, parents, teachers, and students are focused on meeting new testing standards, which calls for an enhanced learning environment with appropriate technology and comfort control systems.

· School districts are serving communities that are increasingly multi-cultural and multi-lingual.