Building Schools for the Future

"All our children deserve to learn in school buildings that inspire them to give of their best. Whatever their needs, a good school environment will value them as people, their abilities and how they learn best. A good learning environment will support and nurture its children and staff."

"Students learn best when classroom furniture is the right size for their individual needs and when desks and tables are positioned in ways that suit the task they are engaged in"

When a school undergoes full new build and refurbishment project they want to ensure that their investment will have a successful outcome on the workspace that they will create for their students. . Unfortunately this can mean different things to different people. The school wants a building that functions safely, and ultimately inspires and supports its students and staff in the best way possible in order to allow their school to achieve the best possible results and encourage parents to send children to their school. The architect very often wants to see an exiting and individually styled innovative building which delivers the change objective as seen through the designer’s eye. This means taking a new approach for the design and refurbishment of the school ICT suite or even the science lab to make both areas more fun, enjoyable and interactive to learn in. The builder wants to deliver within budget and programme timescales. Such things ought not to be in conflict, but too often are.

The furniture supplier cannot influence the overall budget or building design, nor can it define the educational objective, but since it is the school interior which most impacts on function, then the furniture supplier can play a vital part in supplying the most appropriate classroom and laboratory furniture. The furniture supplier if chosen too late can only act upon the instructions supplied to them by the designer and try and adopt their furniture designs to the layout, design and feel of the room, without being too innovative due to time restrictions and budget.

There is an opportunity to get it right more often and to ensure that the requirements of all participants in a school build programme are met without detriment to other participants. An experienced educational (school and lab) furniture specialist understands building bulletins, health and safety requirements, curriculum, traditional and new pedagogy. Such a supplier has a full appreciation of first cost versus life cycle cost and is able to bring options to the table which will assist with informed selection which properly balances educational objective, cost, programme and logistics. The furniture supplier should be engaged earlier in the process and should become part of the development team.

S+B has successfully completed PFI projects for Liverpool, Wirral and Bridlington Councils. Most recently we have successfully completed works for the Islington BSF programme. We have started first phase supply and installations for Birmingham and Derbyshire BSF programmes. We have been awarded the complete fitted furniture package for two Lancashire BSF High Schools. S+B successfully completed works at a wide range of educational institutions including Excelsior Academy, Monkseaton Academy, St Pauls Academy and have started works on the Futures Academy, JCB Academy, Abbey Wood Academy and Globe Academy.