Keep it simple

The baseline designs, currently not required for schools procured by other means, will be used to finalise briefs. Contractors can develop them into detailed schemes, or propose alternatives. They are not mandatory, but schools will not be able to spend more than what it would cost to construct a school to those specifications.

The baseline designs were commissioned as response to the James Review, which advocated a set of standardised plans for education establishments. The Review, launched in July 2010, reported to ministers in April last year and examined how education capital is spent in England, specifically at the allocation and distribution of capital funds, the design and build process and maximising value for money.

Projects completed under the previous Building Schools for the Future framework were criticised by Michael Gove for being too costly. In a conference last year, the education secretary said: ”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.”

As well as reducing costs, The Education Funding Agency’s (EFA) new plans will look to ensure buildings are fit for purpose and sport improved environmental standards. Revised classroom and facility designs will look to deliver savings of around £6m for an average secondary school in comparison to a BSF project.

The ‘baseline’ templates place restrictions on room sizes, storey heights and building shapes for 261 replacement school buildings planned across the country.

Space reductions
Space in secondary schools will see reductions of 15 per cent, with primary schools being around 5 per cent smaller than their BSF equivalent. Guidelines for teaching areas, classrooms, staffrooms and sporting facilities will remain the same size.

Mike Green, director of capital at the EFA, said: “These designs will ensure that new schools can be built to effective designs and specifications, be simple to maintain and energy efficient. And they can be built far faster than many have previously and for far less money.”

Advisory groups for the teaching of science, art, design and technology, the performing arts, ICT and libraries advised the EFA on the design of classrooms and facilities that work best for schools. Charles Johnston, property director at Sport England, said: “Our experts on facilities have been working closely with the Education Funding Agency on the development of these designs. Getting the design right is essential in securing maximum value out of indoor school sports facilities, both for pupils and the local community.”

Specialist science advice
Following the announcement of the guidelines, the Association for Science Education (ASE), which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, is stressing the importance of specialist advice when building science laboratories.

ASE broadly endorses the guidelines, having provided detailed feedback via its Safeguards in Science Committee to the DfE as the designs were being developed.

John Lawrence, deputy ceo at the Association of Science Education and a member of the Safeguards in Science Committee, said: “The ASE welcomes the opportunity to work with the Government on these designs and endorses them with regards to science labs as a minimum specification for new build schools. The success of such designs in practice will depend on the detailed design of individual projects.”

The ASE was keen to point out that seeking specialist advice will help schools ensure labs are safe and provide a suitable learning environment. This means taking into consideration details like whether teachers can engage effectively if workbenches are set out so that students do not face the front.

Safeguards Committee Member Peter Borrows said: “These designs should lead to functional buildings, if not a very inspiring learning environment.

“More will now depend on having sufficient, well-trained, qualified science teachers whose on-going professional development will enable them to provide that inspiration to our young people.”

Seven new school buildings planned for Coventry in the Midlands are expected follow the guidelines. This is in contrast the previous new schools such as the Sidney Stringer Academy, in Hillfields, which was designed by architects and completed under BSF in 2009.

Coun David Kershaw, Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for education, said: “We are the only authority in the country to get all the schools we asked for.

“Unique designs such as the Sidney Stringer building (completed in 2009) are  fearfully expensive. This saves an enormous amount of money. These buildings will be practical and value-for-money, and we will insist on high-quality materials.

“I was government adviser to a school in Lancashire which had a magnificent atrium. In a time of financial constraints I would say that is not an essential.”

RIBA concerns
These restrictions will put an end to designs such as the curved timber Langley Academy by Foster + Partners, and Zaha Hadid’s zig-zagging steel and glass Evelyn Grace Academy (top), which was awarded the Stirling Prize last year by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The Institute is concerned that what it refers to as the ‘flat-pack’ approach is inflexible and will deprive students and teachers of quality environments that are proven to support teaching and learning. President Angela Brady said: “Our students, teachers and local communities deserve great schools - environments that are beneficial to the best-quality teaching and learning. In these times of austerity of course we need to cut our cloth on all spending; however, the government’s proposals for the design and construction of future schools are far too restrictive with too much focus on short-term savings.”

“Improvements must be made to the proposals to make sure that the schools we build now will suit the future generations of children that will learn in them, and deliver what the community needs in the longer term.”

RIBA has further warned that the design guidelines set could be bad for student discipline. Its response to the plans states: “The minimal circulation spaces have the potential for serious congestion, with the consequential impact on behaviour and wellbeing,” it says. “The designs for secondary schools include narrow corridors and concealed stairs that are difficult to supervise; in many schools this is likely to result in the need for additional staff supervision to maintain good behaviour and avoid bullying.” Read the full RIBA response here - 
tinyurl.com/blneqjr

Contractors including Laing O’Rourke, Willmott Dixon, Bam and Wates have all entered the standardised schools market. Stephen Hockaday, director of education infrastructure at Laing O’Rourke, said: “We are targeting the new funding rates and are confident in achieving them, making every effort to drive efficiencies through the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology and Design for Manufacture and Assembly to produce schools that perform to the new environmental standards.”

Sunesis
Oakfield Primary School is the first school to have benefited from a suite of new standardised designs called Sunesis, developed by Willmott Dixon and local authority controlled company Scape. The 50s-built Oakfield needed to expand as many classes were already using additional temporary accommodation. By procuring a pre-designed Sunesis school through Scape, Warwickshire County Council reduced procurement time and fees associated with legal issues, feasibility studies, design and time spent at planning and procurement meetings. The school was also built in 32 weeks, and traditional design and build costs were reduced by 30 per cent.

John Harmon, assets strategy manager at Warwickshire County Council said: “With the original budget, we were looking at extending and altering the current building, but analysis showed it wouldn’t be suitable for conversion into a 21st century school premises – a refurbishment option would have meant a poor learning space and the running costs would have been high.

“Rather than try and ‘make do and mend’, for a little bit more we got something much better – a modern flexible teaching and learning space, which minimises its impact on the environment both now and in the future. And we got it quickly too which saved money.”

Mark Robinson, chief executive officer at Scape says: “This is a real milestone – not just for Oakfield Primary and Warwickshire County Council, but also for the construction and education sectors. In partnership with Willmott Dixon, we’re pioneering a new approach to delivering high quality and affordable schools across the UK. We look forward to seeing how the pupils and teachers alike reach their full potential in this fantastic learning environment.”

Since Oakfield started on site, Southampton City Council and Isle of Wight have also opted for Sunesis schools and more are going through planning.

Community Plus

In August, Morgan Sindall became the latest contractor to officially launch standardised designs. The company, which has built 261 primary schools, 64 secondary schools and seven academies in the last three years, announced the Community Plus range which is supported by Morgan Sindall Investments, urban regeneration firm Muse Developments, and affordable housing provider Lovell. Director of education Jayne Hettle discussed them at the Building Future Education conference in May. The primary school designs employ a simple grid system and timber-engineered solutions. The Morgan Sindall approach splits Key Stage 1 and 2 with separate entrances and exits for children in the respective age groups. There is also a classroom flow that means pupils physically move through the building as they progress through the school years.

The secondary schools are based on a shell and core approach and built around a steel frame. The designs were created in partnership with Atkins, an architectural practice which has a long and successful track record in education.

Managing director Graham Shennan said: “We’ve taken the time to look at what’s really important in education and settled upon a two-tier approach, where we can offer development solutions through Community Plus alongside a new range of model schools.”

Cutting the cloth
The Building Schools for the Future programme was responsible for some truly inspirational learning environments, many of which have won international architecture and design awards. But the education sector needs to cut its financial cloth accordingly, and these plans aim to ensure that BSF’s interim replacement, which only has £2.4bn at its immediate disposal, delivers as much bang for buck as possible. Many have welcomed the pared-down approach, saying that millions of pounds were wasted under the previous programme on unnecessary consultant fees and extravagant design statements that could have been spent on teaching. Mike Green of the EFA concludes: “Ultimately they will enable as many schools as possible to receive investment from the funding available and deliver an excellent environment for the children and communities they serve.”

Further information
Baseline designs for schools - for more information click here