Flexible use of space in educational buildings

An Alco Beldan product story

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team May 11, 2009

Alco Beldan explain how flexible design to allow for short term changes of layout and use has been identified by CABE as one of the key criteria for creating excellent secondary schools.

There has been a revolution in the design of school and college buildings.

An unprecedented level of Government investment through the Academies, BSF, and Primary Capital Programme, has allowed specifiers the license to create inspiring environments for learning.

Flexible design to allow for short term changes of layout and use, as well as more long term alterations, has been identified as one of the key criteria for creating excellent secondary schools as set out by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE).

The Schools Design Panel states that in the design of the school the following should be addressed:.

* Is the design flexible allowing for a variety of uses and activities in different spaces?.

* Is there sufficient generosity in design to make future change relatively easy, for example adapting for changing classroom sizes?.

* Can teaching areas or other spaces be divided or combined to allow for different activities?.

* Will internal and external spaces work well for community/out of hours teaching space?.

* Can external spaces be utilised to enlarge teaching?.

Movable walls and partitions can be used in a variety of ways to satisfy these requirements.

For example:.

* Movable walls sub-divide classrooms to cater for fluctuating class sizes.

* Highly acoustic moving partitions divide multi-purpose halls into drama, assembly or dining halls.

* Lecture theatres are divided into appropriate spaces for optimum learning.

* Folding glazed external walls link teaching and outdoor space with year round comfort.

Alco Beldan have been involved in BSF projects from the earliest days of the programme, working with top Contractors and Architects, on more than 10 Local Authority schemes totalling in excess of 500 movable walls.

With many individual projects complete our walls are now being used in classrooms, multi-use halls, drama studios, music rooms and auditoriums resulting in fantastic feedback from both teaching and facilities management staff.