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Education is recognised the world over as a force for change. This is even truer for regional economies that are looking to move away from their current dependence on a single source economy. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE are all investing heavily in education at all levels and they are doing this in a very public fashion.

While a new school announcement may attract media and public attention, it should also raise important questions. A school is a huge investment – an asset that serves owners, users and the community – but what is its primary purpose and whom is it for? How do these spaces function beyond an asset and how do they draw people in against competitors?

Most importantly, though, how will the school engage with and enthuse the children as they come through the door? How do you make sure children consider learning as a life-long experience and not something that is seen as a mandatory penance from which they are released at the age of 18?

While many factors come into play, from curriculum to education philosophy, there is no doubting the importance of the physical environment on a child’s learning experience. The environment needs to be engaging and flexible. It needs to let in natural light without the solar gain. It also has to provide shaded external play areas and allow learning in groups or as individuals.

However, this environment needs to be built around the child and their perception of learning. As designers we need to remember that people (yes, children are people too) learn in different ways and so need various physical, emotional and visual stimuli.

Therefore the design needs to allow for different types of experiences. Learning can happen as a formal group, a smaller informal group, as individuals, internally, externally, on stairs, in hallways and so on. In the case of ADEC Future Schools in Abu Dhabi, learning can even happen on window sills. Giving the pupils more options on where and how they learn engages them and leads to more successful students.

Another example of the importance of the physical environment is how external spaces are critical for a child’s development. Even in hot climates, such as the UAE, buildings historically  have strong connections with the outdoors through courtyards and walled gardens. This desire to connect children with the environment is just as strong in western culture, with grass roots activists in the US and other countries.

For example, Nordic countries have long used the outdoors as the classroom rather than the 70sqm ‘box’. According to the Danish Forest and Nature Agency, over 10% of Danish preschools are nestled in forests or other natural settings, and place the natural world at the centre of early childhood development.

The ability to run and play is a contrast to the discipline of formal learning. It is also the chance to learn social skills and develop as an individual. A connection with the outside world can teach children, without actually telling them that learning doesn’t have to only happen in front of a whiteboard or iPad – it can happen anywhere. This visual connection with the environment also gives spaces a light quality that artificial lighting cannot match.

Traditionally, the region has used controlled openings to allow daylight and repel solar gain; but this philosophy has been somewhat lost along the way with ‘modern’ designs seemingly relying on reflective glazing alone to control it. However, a skilful design can ensure rooms are brightly lit without the negative impact of solar gain.

Just as it is critical that students become responsible members of society, schools need to become members of the built environment. Most new schools, both public and private, are now moving the school building from behind the obligatory boundary wall to its rightful place as an integral member of the social and built environment.

A fantastic example of this approach is the new Paddington Green campus of the City of Westminster College in London, designed by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen.

While placing emphasis on security, an urban street setting connects the school and its users with their surroundings. Instantly, then, the school is a place where children interact with their community rather than hiding from it – a valuable lesson that once again is learned without having to be taught.

In a series of stakeholder workshops I conducted in the region, all grades of pupils were asked to talk about their school and their likes and dislikes. While it was unsurprising that teachers and older children had strong views,  interestingly, even pupils in grade one primary had a clear understanding of their physical environment. For instance, they commented on their ‘big bright rooms’ or requested ‘somewhere to play ball’, and even asserted there were not enough external play areas for the activities they wanted to do.

The connection between environment and learning was not lost on so-called ‘lay people’ – one teacher astutely observed that the physical enclosure of the school had now begun to restrict their ability to provide education.

This is not to suggest the expansion was a whimsical desire – the project was substantial and would cost millions; however, it was recognised that the cornerstone of the school was learning. Maintaining the ideological belief that schools are, first and foremost, centres of learning will ensure we focus on our most precious of assets: children.

About the author
Salim Hussain is the head of design at Brewer Smith Brewer Gulf, and a visiting critic at the American University of Sharjah. He has worked on numerous education projects, including campus buildings for vocational colleges in Middlesbrough, Bristol and Birmingham, as well as schools in the UK and UAE.