Building
the Future: Lessons From Tasmania
Section 3
Reece
students with a wireless laptop computer lab on wheels |
What is it about
this school so far away that we in the United States can learn from?
Here are some ideas
that are fully transferable:
-
Collaborative
planning. Start every project with a collaborative planning process
that focuses less on the building and more on the desires and aspirations
of the school and community.
-
Benchmarking.
Make sure that as many decisions as possible are made in the context
of what has already worked well elsewhere. If there is a readiness
for openness, don't stop there. Extend
these ideas and forge new ground if they seem reasonable within
the context of the school being created.
-
Planning
well and early. Bring in your planner and archit ect
as early in the process as possible. Don't wait to have a fully
worked-out "program" or "educational specifications"
before hiring these professionals. At Reece, the architects
threw out everything they knew about schools and focused, instead,
on the
A
wireless laptop class in session. At Reece, all rooms are
potential “computer labs” |
things that
would give the community what it needed.
-
Creating
flexible buildings. Reece came in within budget because a decision
was made early that many
areas of the building would serve multiple uses. This precluded
the need for some of the dedicated spaces
we see in U.S. schools. Flexibility is good because curricula change.
Today and into
the future, Reece's use is limited only by the imagination of the
teachers and students.
-
Leveraging
technology to improve learning. Ubiquitous
computing is not only about giving students access to technology
anytime and anywhere,
Students
now have individual workstations that they can personalize
and ergonomic chairs |
but also about
creating places where that technology can be used. A school designed
with this concept in mind will have few wasted spaces because all
places
within the school are potential "learning areas."
-
Recognizing
the physical, social, and emotional dimensions of learning. Good
school design is not only about translating a "program,"
but about imbuing spaces with a quality called "usability."
That means creating areas on the school campus that are welcoming,
cheerful, daylit, and comfortable. There is significant research
linking human physiology, emotional well-being, and productivity
with the spaces in which we live and learn. These dimensions of
a school design cannot be addressed in the traditional and familiar
"cells and bells" model that aligns classrooms along double-loaded
corridors.
Perhaps the most
important lesson Reece can teach us, however, is that good school
buildings are really about good schools. If we can change the dialogue
from one about the buildings to one about the future of learning,
then the Reece miracle will become commonplace.
The
plans below show building 7 on the campus can be reconfigured in
many different ways. This building can house 500 guests and a distance
learning program but can also be used for dance and music and catering
and sewing and various other programs on a daily basis. The building
also has strong outdoor connections.
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