Education buildings have the potential to inspire, stimulate and nurture children and young people through their most formative years. The investment made in school buildings, the emphasis placed on good design, and even the maintenance of existing spaces tell the people who use them every day how valued they are in our society. Whether conscious or subconscious, we all carry the experiences from our school days through our lives. It shapes our view of the world and aspirations for the future.
For over a decade, the education sector has been hampered by chronic underfunding, with real-terms spending per pupil now significantly less than it was in 2010. This has been compounded by unprecedented challenges, including COVID-19's disruption to teaching, the sharp rise in energy prices (which disproportionately affects schools due to their large estates) and most recently headlines related to RAAC.
This has left the sector in survival mode, reactive and focused on balancing tight budgets without the capacity or resources to proactively plan for the long term. A recent report from the National Audit Office concluded that 700,000 pupils are currently learning in a school that needs major rebuilding or refurbishment. There is a pressing need to elevate the level of debate from the delivery of ‘safe and warm’ education spaces to ‘inspiring and world-class'. Building safety is of course of paramount importance, but this should be a given.
With all challenges come opportunities, and through careful targeting investment, creative problem solving and a commitment to good design we believe the focus can be re-directed back to delivering efficient, inspiring and accessible school buildings, which will serve future generations and tackle important issues such as education inequality and levelling up.
Since 2011, Hawkins\Brown has worked in close partnership with Central Foundation Boys' School, one of the top-performing non-selective comprehensive schools in the country, to unlock significant financial and logistical challenges and transform their inner-city London campus. The project included all the challenges you would typically find on an education project, including balancing new build and refurbishment works, working with the Department for Education (DfE) and managing a constrained site.