Educational spaces provide highly formative and diverse environments for younger generations. They are also crucial to fostering both wellbeing and retention of school staff, as well as forming supportive and inclusive local communities. Because of that, educational design comes with a whole suite of unique considerations – and to Tammy Beck, the Executive Director of William Ross Architects (WRA), understanding them should always start with a conversation.

“Each student has a different, completely unique experience of the space. That’s why we do more and more consultation with students – hearing their perspective has been fascinating and really informs our designs,” says Tammy. She is passionate about community sport and urban design, and education projects and contemporary learning environments are her pet passion. “Of course, there are some commonalities that come through in good design, but having that additional perspective has been one of the things that's enriched the process.”

Tammy adds that it’s equally important to consider the impact of the space on children of different ages and consider how they use it – from its arrangement, colour and texture, to the connection to outdoors. “There’s no dead space in school,” Tammy highlights. “Every little nook should be designed in a way that creates a space for people to interact, reflect or simply be on their own. Every space needs to be inhabited and used to its maximum.”

In contrast to the more repetitive character of residential design, schools and campuses are all about variety. “You might have your general learning spaces, but then every other space is unique – and it has to be designed to suit that function, including art and science spaces, as well as breakout areas and collaboration zones,” Tammy adds.

With such particular requirements setting campuses apart from other environments, can adaptive reuse play a role in educational design? “There is no doubt that it’s easier to build new. But I think adaptive reuse of buildings in the education space is critical,” Tammy says with no hesitation. Adaptive reuse is a crucial part of WRA’s approach in that space, with the Student and Administration Centre at Salesian College in Charlston, Melbourne, a prominent example of that practice. The challenge? “We’ve got a history of schools with some fabulous buildings, as well as some really poorly designed and constructed buildings. In those cases, it can actually be more cost effective – and better for the environment – that we demolish those buildings and rebuild something that is better.”

But Tammy adds that there is a lot that can be done even with buildings the schools don’t necessarily like and might want to pull down, as long as they have what she calls ‘good bones’. “If you take another look at them, they might have great structure, and often they have a really fantastic quality to them.”

That’s one of the challenges – or rather opportunities, perhaps – the Salesian College, originally erected in the late 1950s, presented to Tammy’s team when they commenced the project a few years back. “We really had to unpick the existing structures and understand what was worth keeping,” she says. “The campus had some beautiful brick buildings that had some lovely detailing and a real sense of quality craftsmanship. We wanted to reflect and complement that. Adaptive reuse really gives schools the opportunity to maintain their original character, and I think there are plenty of other structures that have been demolished and could have been used a lot more creatively.”

But, the existing structures need to be used really thoughtfully and carefully – after all, a lot hinges on the quality of design of our educational facilities. “It’s paramount that we create spaces that meet current expectations around energy efficiency and comfort, and ensure their longevity.”

If you’d like to hear about other examples of adaptive reuse in education, learn why Tammy thinks every new education project should aim to be Green Star accredited – and what school she would design if there were no financial constraints, listen to the full podcast episode here.

Architecture & Design Team

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