Building a contemporary learning environment

Educators are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of an inviting, bright and contemporary learning environment in achieving positive learning outcomes for students. The challenge is how to ensure the architects, site managers and builders also understand this concept. As the curriculum changes regularly, so, too, do schools need to modify their learning environments to accommodate new learning initiatives. Victory Lutheran College has designed new buildings that are bright, functional and highly flexible.

The environment

Victory Lutheran College is situated in West Wodonga, in north-east Victoria. The school is currently going through a rapid expansion in order to accommodate a P-12 college by 2009. The college opened in 1992 as a primary school. However, four years ago, the decision was made to move into secondary education. As a result, new infrastructure was needed. This naturally required careful planning and consideration, which involves many hours of research and then the modification of initial ideas.

The college has been established at the base of a succession of hills, which provide a striking backdrop for the student’s learning environment. These scenic and undulating hills provide inspiration for learning and creativity in a range of subject areas, not the least art and English. With this in mind, the appealing surrounds were to play a major role in the final infrastructure, remaining visible from a range of vantage points throughout the building.

Three innovative, general learning area blocks were designed to accommodate the junior school, the second of which opened in February this year. These buildings incorporate the latest in functionality and intelligence in using space. There is a dazzling use of light, which give a positive feel. In addition, there is the option of adding additional classroom space by extending into adjacent, outdoor areas and a central assembly area. At a cost of $1 million, it was essential that the College designed an appealing building that not only utilised the space given, but also gave the feeling of a bigger space.

Gaining expertise

Of critical importance when undertaking any major capital works is the employment of a highly regarded architectural firm that has experience in designing schools. Educational settings provide challenges that are very different from those presented by commercial or industrial buildings. Schools need to be established with a unique client in mind, that is, the child. Victory Lutheran College engaged Kevin Poyner architects, a local company located in Wodonga. An important consideration for school leaders should also be to appoint a firm that understands the requirements of the area, including that of the council, demographics and future land development.

An essential element of any capital works is to develop a thorough brief for the architect of what the school requires in the short and long-term. Change may also be necessary in the future and it is important to consider how the requirements put in place now might change in, say, five to 10 years. To understand the use of space, the needs of different year levels and different environments, research is necessary. Architects and staff from the college visited schools from country, metropolitan and coastal areas of Victoria. Importantly, the schools we visited were of similar size and structure to Victory Lutheran College, as we expect it to be in the future.

After visits and further discussions of local requirements, the team of architects and consultants were able to design three buildings that are visually appealing, modern and creative in their use of space and building materials. Kevin Poyner architects have been resourceful with their time and ideas. They have accessed a wide range of materials that are markedly different to those used in other educational settings in the area. A range of consultants were employed at each stage.

The buildings were designed for the junior school to move into, while the middle and senior school will periodically move into refurbished primary school classrooms as the college expands. The latest building houses two prep and two year 1 classes, while the first of the buildings, opened last year, was built for the year 2 and 3 classes. Both buildings, while similar in appearance have some minor differences to cater for the different age groups. Work will start in 2008 on the third building in the cluster, which will accommodate year 4 and 5 classes.

Expanding the space inside

Each building is designed with four classrooms that lead off a central assembly area. On both the east and west sides of the building, there are locker areas for student bags and associated school materials in large floor to ceiling cupboards. Two classrooms on each side of the building are joined by two key features. The first is a reading recovery or removal room. The second is a solid, double door that can be opened to join the two classes together. Each class also has a separate paved courtyard that can be used as an extension of the internal learning environment.

The sizeable central area is easily accessible by each of the four classes. There is sufficient space to hold an assembly of all four classes together, so students don’t need to travel across the college grounds to another meeting space. The central area also provides additional space for wet weather days. It can even be used as a media room, with students being able to view educational programs or, in the future, use computers there. Small worship services can be held in the central area, and there is enough space for parents to attend, as well. Teachers and aides often use this central space for reading recovery, testing and assessing students on a one-to- one or group basis. It is a practical space that can be used for small games and activities by one or more classes. The room, being in the centre of the building, would normally lack natural light. However, this problem is overcome by a series of skylights in the ceiling.

Internally, all areas are spacious and bright. Classic white has been used on most walls and doors. In contrast to this, floor areas and lower wall areas are decorated in shades of blue, with timber trusses exposed for an added classic, country charm design. Classrooms are larger than many parents and teachers would have experienced when they were in primary school and allow for a number of ‘learning hubs’. Importantly, there is a central area in each room for desks, an area for computers and an associated technology workbench, and open floor space for small group activities, performance and music or reading sessions.

As well as learning hubs in each of the classrooms, there are additional features that increase the functionality of the space, providing a greater learning environment for the students and a more organised workspace for teachers. Each class is fitted with a sink, associated cupboards and workspace. This allows for the quick and easy clean-up of art materials and small science demonstrations. Older junior school classes will soon use this workspace to maintain the small landscaped areas that are just outside their classrooms.

Classrooms are fitted with three large sliding panels, which have multiple purposes. Depending on the classroom, these panels consist either of a blackboard, a whiteboard and a display board or two whiteboards and a display board. These panels are larger than the standard whiteboards, extending all the way to the floor. However, of major significance is the space-saving decision to have all these panels on runners, to act as cupboards. Behind each panel is shelving for storage of items of any size (the shelving can be adapted to fit whatever is being stored). This ensures that items can be stored away, out of sight. In this way, the usual clutter of educational material is kept to a minimum within the classroom itself. This is the minimalist approach in action!

A small room adjoins each pair of classrooms. This is made of glass doors, and glass panels, ensuring that teacher supervision can be maintained at all times. These small glass rooms can be used for a range of purposes. Voluntary help by parents and parish members is crucial to the development of young children, in areas such as literacy and numeracy. The small glassed-in areas provide an ideal environment for volunteers interacting with students one-to- one or in a small group. The glass panels mean that a visible link is maintained with the teacher and the whole class. Reading recovery, art displays, storage of sports equipment or supplies, further computer workspace and removal areas are all uses for these small glass rooms.

As well as this glass room joining the two classes, larger, double wooden doors can be opened between two separate classrooms to form one large class area. This is of particular importance for junior classes, which often complete work together, use team-teaching and encourage interaction between students from different classes as a form of social development. These double wooden doors are a modern version of the traditional sliding panel wall that many schools would have. This version, while less wide, still provides for enough space for interaction between two classes without moving furniture. At the same time, the doors are small and thick enough for the two rooms to remain sound proof, should that be required.

Bringing the outside in

One essential element of the design process was to maximise the natural light for each class and allow an additional ‘learning hub’ to be created on demand. Therefore, one whole wall in each classroom is made completely of glass. Not only does this allow complete natural light, it also provides the college with the option of having an additional outside classroom for every class. For this aspect of the project, the design is largely the same for each building. However, for safety reasons, the prep/year 1 block does not have large sliding doors along this wall and, instead, features standard glass doors. In either case, this allows each class immediate access to an individual outdoor area.

Outside of these doors, the architect has designed a very functional, safe and innovative courtyard that, again, has multiple purposes. These areas are enclosed by small, sandstone brick walls and timber slats. The ground area is landscaped and paved, while partial shaded areas are provided. This area can be used to teach a class outdoors, as a small play area, as an eating area at recess and lunch, as a class assembly area, or for an art class. The doors can be opened to allow fresh air to circulate through the class at any time.

In the centre of each courtyard is a space for a landscaped garden. One of the benefits of working with an architectural firm with experience in school design is that it will also access a range of learning environment consultants to complete the project. Therefore, a professional landscape designer was contracted to provide a complete concept for all of the areas surrounding the building, including the playground and each of the small gardens in the courtyards.

Unfortunately, due to the drought, there has been no point in the College moving ahead with this stage of the project yet. Hopefully, within the next two months, planting of the shrubs, plants, bushes and trees will take place, as the area receives much needed rain. The college applied for, and was able to hold onto, the funds allocated to this part of the project until such time as it sees fit to progress. Again, the design of the garden areas has taken into account the client. Small shrubs around the building will allow for children to play and yet still be seen. The planting of larger trees has been designed so that the growth of branches will only start at a point above the height of children of this age. Line of sight, as teachers know, is an important consideration in the supervision of children in outdoor play.

The external colours of the building were chosen on the premise that children enjoy bright and cheerful colours. The two current buildings use rich, bold shades of blue and yellow and the third will also match these, with another striking colour. These colours also link the new science block in the middle school area, where a similar shade of blue has been used. The classroom infrastructure is extended to the rest of the school by covered pathways, where a dark charcoal colour has been used on a curved roof, so that everything blends into the natural environment. These colours will be continually used as the college expands.

Communication and evaluation

In any capital works project it is important to have a professional team that understands the constraints and clientele with which whom are dealing. Schools, on the whole, generally get this aspect right but it doesn’t always happen easily. Research is pivotal before any work is undertaken and discussions with other school leaders are important in developing the background knowledge needed to undertake building projects. Victory Lutheran College has been especially fortunate to have a team of professionals working on this project.

At all times, communication must be open and honest between the leaders of the college, the architect and site manager. If there are questions about what was originally discussed or planned, then these are best resolved immediately, at a site meeting. Regular site meetings are vital and keep each party informed of progress, delays and any changes to the design, materials or furnishings. Usually, these site meetings will be organised by the site manager. However, they should be able to be called by any party, at any time, should concerns arise. There is, after all, a large amount of time and money invested in such projects. The ongoing cost of errors or mistakes, which are easily resolved at an early stage, can sometimes have a lasting and devastating effect.

Victory Lutheran College has been fortunate to develop infrastructure that is appealing and modern, yet extremely functional. Important to a growing college was the planned roll-out of these buildings, in stages. Having one building completed before the next began ensured that there was time for evaluation and a change of the future stages. These were only minor but allowed for continual upgrade, where necessary. A prime example of this was the change of glass doors into the courtyard areas from one building to the next and the modification of skylights in the central assembly room. For the third building, this time of evaluation may well mean a small ‘turning’ of the building, to improve access from other areas and easier links from one year level to the next.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mr Cain McDonald is Director of Teaching and Learning at Victory Lutheran College, in Wodonga, Victoria. He is a secondary teacher and has taught in schools throughout metropolitan and country Victoria. Mr McDonald is also a Director of the History Teacher’s Association of Victoria and has written in texts for Heinemann. He is also the appointed Action Wallenberg Teachers’ Liaison Officer for the B’nai B’rith Raoul Wallenberg Unit.

 

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