Learning spaces

Butler College is a large school in the northern suburbs of Perth that was constructed with a purpose-built high needs education support facility on campus. In today’s article we find out about the features that are designed to make its buildings inclusive spaces for all students.

From a technical school of the future in Denmark to a building that reimagines school architecture in India ­– the 12 shortlisted designs up for this year’s World Architecture Festival (WAF) award in the ‘Education - Future Project’ category have the potential to redefine how students learn.

From a six-storey vertical school in the heart of Melbourne to a converted dumpsite in rural Morocco ­– the 10 shortlisted school designs up for this year’s World Architecture Festival (WAF) award have a whole host of unique features that make them stand out above the rest. Here’s a snapshot of the shortlisted projects.

There are still many children who live in a world where even the most basic of school infrastructure does not exist. In her latest column, Julia Gillard shares how the Global Partnership for Education is helping to get infrastructure and supplies to schools in conflict-affected countries – from classroom furniture in Yemen to handwashing stations in Sierra Leone.

Refurbishing existing school buildings can be a great way to breathe new life into ageing building stock that is no longer fit for purpose. Architect Chad Brown shares how his team went about refurbishing a Brisbane school library, and how other schools can transform own spaces.

Completed in 2017, IKC de Geluksvogel school in the Netherlands is known for its focus on sustainability and its teaching approach, which centres on the use of technology. In today’s Q&A we speak to Misak Terzibasiyan, the director of UArchitects, the firm behind the design of the award-winning school.

Many schools are beginning to think ‘vertically’ to overcome density and population pressures in urban areas. Here we speak to the architect behind two new schools in Melbourne about both the challenges and the opportunities that arise when designing a vertical school.

On the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, sits Wodonga Senior Secondary College – home to 900 Year 10-12 students, 100 staff and a community hub for the sharing of STEM expertise.

It’s Learning Spaces month at Teacher. Today we find out how one school has been using prototypes and cardboard mock-ups to test the effectiveness of different learning settings and configurations in preparation for a site rebuild.

It’s Learning Spaces Month here at Teacher. At the beginning of the 2017 school year, Harbord Public School opened the doors of their brand new three-storey innovative learning environment. In today’s article we speak with Year 5 teacher Amber Fuller about how the students and teachers have settled in.