MOVING THE DEBATE UP A GEAR Id like to move the whole debate up a gear and draw attention to the need to future proof. Demolishing a complete building and constructing another is pointless unless the new one has the capacity to remain relevant during its lifespan. If the new build is supposed to last sixty years this requires appreciating how education is going to evolve and how a building can serve it not just in September 2016 but in 2036 and 2076. That is quite a responsibility and the temptation of todays government funding pots shouldnt deter decision makers from truly looking ahead. The baseline designs of the PSBP already look dated - a primary school consisting of a series of classrooms off a corridor. Is this really going to work in ten or twenty years time. Technology is moving so fast that we are now accepting that tablets for pupils are inevitable and the knock on effect is a different way of learning and interacting with teachers. Cutting edge ideas for schools often involve the concept of a heart space off which there are individual rooms. Does this seem familiar? Interestingly Chagfords quad would fit this idea - roofed over and opened up into the corridor. If the hall was split into two, there would be room to house all the years including the FSU in the original building. Perhaps thinking ahead also means appreciating greater integration with the community. A school hall which also doubled up as a community space might be better as a stand alone building in the grounds - for instance on the site of the current preschool block, making the most of the view. My concern is that the view of decision makers is myopic and inverted. Rather than trying to determine what we need in a school over the next half century, then trying to work out how to achieve it, they are merely grabbing hold of a passing pot of money then making the best of it. I dont think May people realise that the actual cost of the PSBP school will be about 1.3 million; the remaining 1.3 million will go on other costs. Simply demolishing and taking away a building will cost hundreds of thousands. The current school has already lasted thirty years longer than the most optimistic forecast for the new one. Maybe with the right vision it is in a better position to be serve our community for the next sixty.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:00:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015