Educational Facilities Supplemental Resource List

by the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities

Last updated: 03-05-2009

A Visioning Process for Designing Responsive Schools. (PDF) Sanoff, Henry. National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, Washington, DC, 2001.
This manual presents guidance for creating a constructive dialogue between school officials and the surrounding community on the design of schools that contribute to enhancing educational quality. The benefits of community participation are addressed as are descriptions of the principle parts of the participation process, including strategic planning, goal setting, and long term planning. Finally, the manual presents the Charrette process as a method for generating design ideas.

Architecture for Achievement: Building Patterns for Small School Learning. Bergsagel, Victoria; Best, Tim; Cushman, Kathleen; McConachie, Lorne; Sauer, Wendy; Stephen, David. Eagle Chatter Press, Mercer Island, WA, 2007.
Proposes a "pattern language" with which planners can explore architectural details that can enhance their schools design. The designs focus on smaller, more personalized learning communities that can boost student achievement. A wide range of indoor and outdoor design features are presented, organized as guiding principles for student success. These are personalized, learning-focused, collaborative, community connected, and adaptable.

Architecture of Schools: The New Learning Environments. Dudek, Mark. Architectural Press, Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn, Massachusetts, 2000.
This guide focuses on the architecture of primary and pre- school sector in the United Kingdom and broadly considers the subtle spatial and psychological requirements of growing children up to, and beyond, the age of sixteen. Chapter 1 examines the history, origins, and significant historical developments of school architecture along with an overview illustrating the link between progressive educational ideas and experimental architecture. Chapter 2 explores the classroom environment and its importance to child development and learning, including the interweaving of the esoteric factors such as the effects on behavior of color, light, and texture with the practical aspects of designing for comfort, health, and education. Chapter 3 analyzes and discusses the best new examples of school design within the wider architectural and political context. Chapter 4 examines the issues outside the classroom such as environmental factors defining healthy, comfortable buildings for education and the structure of school funding within the United Kingdom. The book also analyzes 20 school or educational buildings in diagrammatic and visual terms revealing how wit and imagination applied in a discerning manner can be as inspiring as cutting-edge technologies adapted in previous eras.

Building & Renovating Schools: Design, Construction Management, Cost Control. Macaluso, Joseph; Lewek, David; Murphy, Brian. R.S. Means, Kingston, MA, 2004.
Covers the building and renovating process from initial planning, needs assessment and design through move-in. The "Planning and Design" section features guidelines for developing planning documents and selection of the design team, green design standards and technologies, integrating computer and building automation technology, security equipment and design approaches and cost issues, and the special design considerations of specialty spaces. "The Construction Process" section covers estimating and monitoring project costs, the role of a project manager and project team, and construction contracts and schedules. Also included are case studies of recently completed school projects, square foot cost models for elementary, middle, and high school facilities with costs for individual building components such as classrooms, auditoriums, labs, administration areas, gyms, libraries, and swimming pools.

Building Type Basics for Elementary and Secondary Schools. Perkins, Bradford. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 2001.
This book provides the essential information architects need to fast-start a school design process and shares what leading architects have learned about elementary and secondary school design. It provides critical information on the process, potential problems, design concerns, and recent trends in school design, along with complete coverage of energy issues and mechanical systems, structural concerns and acoustic control, lighting, internal traffic, and security. Further, the book asks and answers 20 questions that frequently arise in the early phases of a project commission; and provides project photographs, diagrams, floor plans, sections, and details.

Catching the Age Wave: Building Schools With Senior Citizens in Mind. (PDF) Sullivan, Kevin J. National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, Washington, DC, Oct 2002.
Examining the trend toward an older U.S. population, this publication discusses why educators and school facility planners should consider designing multipurpose schools that specifically contribute to stronger intergenerational links. Reasons include: ending age segregation, enriching the lives of children and seniors, creating support for public education, and keeping seniors healthy and learning. The twelve-page publication also discusses the challenges and opportunities of such efforts, including the diversity of retirees, issues of joint venture, funding, cost savings, accessibility, finding space, using space wisely, giving new life to historic school buildings, security, and staffing. The publication includes numerous case studies and fifteen references.

Class Architecture. Crosbie, Michael J. Images Publishing Group, Victoria, Australia, Feb 2002.
This compendium contains more than 40 schools that show new directions in design and the changing demands on this building type. It discusses the design challenges in new schools and how each one of the projects meets the demands of an architecture for learning. An introduction by architect Raymond Bordwell explains many of the trends in new school design which are illustrated in the book's collection. The facility descriptions contain numerous photographs and well as building plans.

Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities, Third Edition. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Programme on Educational Building, Paris, France, 2006.
Profiles 65 school buildings from OECD member countries that illustrate good architectural programming and design. The schools were selected on behalf of the Programme for Educational Building by an international jury on the basis of their flexibility, involvement of community, sustainability, safety and security, and alternative financing. The profile for each school includes building statistics, project participants, a brief narrative, a plan, and several photographs.

Creating Environments for Young Children. Sanoff, Henry. North Carolina State Univ., School of Design, Raleigh, 1995.
The planning and design of child care centers has been undertaken without sufficient knowledge of children's spatial behavior, resulting in centers not providing appropriate physical conditions for young children's developmental needs. This workbook contains exercises and other learning materials for young students that follow principles of good design in the following units: (1) "Goal Setting"; (2) "What Is a Learning Environment," including components of a learning center, along with how to create and rate learning centers; (3) "Playroom Design Principles," focusing on light and color, planning, and modeling the playroom; (4) "Building Image"; (5) "Planning the Facility"; and (6) "Planning Outdoor Play," including play zones, planning outdoor play (POP), playground safety, playground document scale, and mapping children's behavior.

Educational Environments. Yee, Roger. Visual Reference Publications, Inc., New York, NY., 2002.
This book presents examples of the United States' most innovative new educational facilities for decision makers developing educational facilities of the future. The projects in this book are visual evidence of how a number of the United States' top architecture and design firms are meeting the challenge of constructing learning spaces with creativity and vision. The architecture and interior design featured in the book illustrate how educational facilities create a value for their owners, making long-term investments in building products, interior furnishings, and technological infrastructure to establish enduring physical assets that optimize life cycle costs. The book concludes with "Can Johnny Compute?" (Roger Yee), which discusses the need for a massive and very expensive overhaul needed to make U.S. schools competitive in the new millennium.

Educational Facilities. Images Publishing Group, Mulgrave, Australia; American Institute of Architects, Washington, DC, 2002.
This book is a compilation of nearly 100 projects and trends in school design. The projects were submitted for a 1999-2000 competition and focus on a variety of school facilities. These facilities range from early childhood to community colleges, including public, private, and alternative facilities. A jury of architects and educational administrators reviewed each of the submissions to select a diverse range of projects to illustrate the future of design in educational facilities. Each entry contains photographs, floor plans, an architect's statement, and building details.

Educational Facilities. Mostaedi, Arian. Carles Broto i Comerma, Barcelona, Spain, 2002.
Renowned architects exhibit their most innovative and creative designs for educational and cultural buildings including schools, institutes, universities and educational centers. It offers a selection of 19 designs in this field of architecture, illustrated with numerous photographs, plans, and construction details that help to illustrate some of the essential aspects of educational architecture.

Educational Facilities: 1995-96 Review American Institute of Architects. American Institute of Architects. Washington DC; Rockport Publishers, Inc., 1996.
A jury of educators and architects examined building projects to determine the best state-of-the-practice designs for educational facilities. This book presents the forty top designs covering facilities from childhood development to universities. Also included are four special facility projects involving school libraries, a center for developmentally disabled adults, and a fire and rescue training facility. Projects are selected based on their architectural response to the owner's program and budget, site and climatic conditions, functional relationships and circulation, safety and security, quality of environment, accessibility, integration of technology, and learning environment. Seven of the listed projects are citation winners for the way they responded to the site, accommodated new educational approaches, or welcomed use by the surrounding community. Numerous photographs, plans, and drawings are provided as are architect's statements that briefly explain the main features of each design. A jury statement accompanies each citation project highlighting the noteworthy features of these award-winning designs.

Educational Spaces. A Pictorial Review of Significant Spaces. Volume 1. Images Publishing Group, Mulgrave, Australia, 1998.
A pictorial review presents educational facility designs from around the world as examples of contemporary and inspirational trends in school architecture. Photos showcase exterior and interior design features from primary and secondary, and adult educational facilities. Biographies of some of the architectural firms involved are provided.

Educational Spaces: A Pictorial Review, Volume 2. Images Publishing Group, Melbourne, Australia, Jan 2000.
Presents recent international educational facility designs as examples of contemporary and inspirational trends in school architecture. Photos showcase exterior and interior design features from primary and secondary, and adult educational facilities. Biographies of some of the architectural firms involved are provided.

Educational Spaces: A Pictorial Review, Volume 3. Images Publishing Group, Melbourne, Australia, 2003.
Presents recent international educational facility designs as examples of contemporary and inspirational trends in school architecture. Photos showcase exterior and interior design features from primary and secondary, and adult educational facilities. Biographies of some of the architectural firms involved are provided.

Flexible School Facilities. Locker, Frank M.; Olson, Steven. Design Share, Minneapolis, MN, Sep 2003.
Planning flexible school facilities requires planners to embrace and facilitate inevitable change through careful planning and a willingness to speculate on the future of teaching and learning. This article identifies five stages of restructuring school buildings, from the most traditional to the most radical, and examines ways that planners can anticipate needs of the future.

Historic Neighborhood Schools: Success Stories. Issues and Initiatives. (PDF) National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, DC., 2002.
This document offers 19 case studies that show how people across the United States have kept historic schools as vital parts of their communities. The case studies offer concise summaries of information that architects, contractors, and school administrators have shared with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. They describe projects that illustrate reasonable solutions to: building code compliance, structural problems, deferred maintenance, mechanical-HVAC upgrades, safety issues, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, integration of 21st-century technology, adaptation to modern educational programmatic needs, and sympathetic additions to historic structures. Contact information provided in each "success story" gives school facility decision makers and neighborhood preservationists the opportunity to talk directly with experts who have overcome vexing problems in school rehabilitation. The schools profiled are: (1) St. Helena Elementary School, St. Helena, California; (2) Portland Middle School, Portland, Connecticut; (3) The Thomas A. Edison Charter School, Wilmington, Delaware; (4) William McKinley High School, Honolulu, Hawaii; (5) Boise High School, Boise, Idaho; (6) Evergreen Academy, Chicago, Illinois; (7) William H. Ray Elementary School, Chicago, Illinois; (8) Carl Schurz High School, Chicago, Illinois; (9) The Shakespeare School, Chicago, Illinois; (10) East Boston High School, Boston, Massachusetts; (11) Fairhaven High School, Fairhaven, Massachusetts; (12) Sidney Pratt School and Community Education Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; (13) Edward Lee McClain High School, Greenfield, Ohio; (14) Logan Elementary School, Columbia, South Carolina; (15) St. Louis School, Castroville, Texas; (16) Woodrow Wilson High School, Dallas, Texas; (17) Appomattox Regional Governor's School, Petersburg, Virginia; (18) St. Andrew's School, Richmond, Virginia; and (19) Latona Elementary School, Seattle, Washington.

Historic Neighborhood Schools Deliver 21st Century Educations. (PDF) Beaumont, Constance E. National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, Washington, DC, May 2003.
Examines the numerous advantages that can be gained from preserving older neighborhood schools. Debunks the notion that well-renovated historic schools cannot meet modern standards. Recounts the experiences of three successful school renovation projects in Spokane, Washington; San Antonio, Texas; and Boise, Idaho. Concludes with several briefer examples illustrating how communities have found creative solutions to common problems encountered during historic renovation. Fifteen color photographs convey the value of these projects from an architectural and aesthetic perspective.

Keys to Success: School Facilities Primer, Questions & Answers 101. (PDF) Brady, Jim. PageSouthlandPage, Arlington, VA., 2003.
This publication provides answers to basic questions to help school board members more fully address the complexities of the planning, design, and construction process in order to maximize the goal of student success. The 101 questions and answers are in the areas of: facility planning; learning environment; information technology; safe schools; life cycle costing; facility standards; facility costs; maintenance; bond issues; site issues; accessibility; building codes; asbestos; working with architects; construction delivery options; and sustainabilty issues.

Kindergartens, Schools and Playgrounds. Canizares, Ana; Fajardo, Julio, eds. Loft Publications, Barcelona, Spain, 2007.
Presents an international collection of recently built school facilities selected for their successful learning environments, promotion of togetherness and the exchange of ideas, and community use. The buildings all attempt to maximize energy savings, natural light, and ventilation. Each example is richly illustrated with plans and photographs.

Learning Spaces. (PDF) Oblinger, Diana, Ed. Educause, Boulder, CO, 2006.
Focuses on less often discussed facets of learning space design: how learner expectations influence such spaces, the principles and activities that facilitate learning, and the role of technology from the perspective of those who create learning environments: faculty, learning technologists, librarians, and administrators. The book begins with fourteen chapters by various authors discussing learning space design principles, followed by 29 higher education case studies.

Lighting for Schools. (PDF) Benya, James R. National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, Washington, DC, Dec 2001.
This publication highlights some of the benefits of proper daylighting design in educational facilities, discusses energy efficient electric lighting choices schools can make that are long lasting and require little maintenance, and offers six steps for designing lighting systems that use half the energy of earlier conventional designs. Several light sources and systems are listed along with their mean lumens per watt, luminary usage, and types of school spaces where they would be used.

Lighting the Learning Space. Bentley, Miriam. 3D/I, Houston, TX, 2003.
Briefly discusses six important components of the IESNA "Recommended Practice on Lighting for Educational Facilities." These are: 1) Provide views to the outside to allow relaxation of the eye muscles as they focus on the distance. 2) Control window luminance to avoid glare. 3) Ensure that the angle between any source of high luminance and principle sight lines is a large as possible. 4) Avoid high brightness contrasts. 5) Place sources of high brightness against a bright background to reduce visual discomfort. 6) Replace recessed parabolic or lens fixtures with pendant-mounted indirect/direct fixtures.

Picturing School Design. A Visual Guide to Secondary School Buildings and Their Surroundings Using the Design Quality Indicator for Schools. Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, London, UK, Jan 2005.
Presents seven British case studies that illustrate solutions to overcoming recurring pitfalls in school design, using the Design Quality Indicator for Schools, which was developed by the DfES in partnership with the Construction Industry Council. The publication illustrates various approaches to key design issues within the school site and building, and share best practices as well as identifying common problem areas.

Planning and Designing Schools. Brubaker, C. William. McGraw Hill, New York, NY, 1998.
This book reviews 22 school projects from around the United States. It opens with a brief history of school design in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but the focus throughout the book is on several distinct elements: designing schools with beauty and character; the planning and building process; computers and their impact on learning and design; interior design, including color, light, space, furnishing, and equipment; how educational restructuring affects architecture; and campus planning-site analysis. The design ideas presented here apply to a broad array of school types: community schools, high schools, shared facilities, elementary schools, expansions, renovations, and new projects. Each case deals with a unique problem and shows how the architects worked with the educators to create a tailored solution. Graphics and other illustrations are provided for each project reviewed. Special chapters address issues such as how to prevent obsolete schools, how to transform the learning environment, and how to design schools with character.

School Builders. Curtis, Eleanor. John Wiley & Sons, New York, May 2003.
This book introduces 29 elementary through high school projects in various countries, the majority of which are from the UK, the US, and Germany as well as featured buildings from India, Japan, Singapore, Norway, and Canada. Through these case studies, the book presents educational philosophies and needs, as well as cultural and climatic considerations across the world. A wide range of issues are reflected in these projects, including the technology-led classroom, sustainable green schools, flexible spaces, tight urban sites, optimum school size, community involvement, and safety and security concerns. Contains plans, illustrations, drawings, and many full color photographs.

School Design. Sanoff, Henry. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1997.
The positive impact from changing the environment of a school as a way of improving the quality of education is often overlooked by educators. This book shows how to create more effective schools through a design process that involves teachers, students, parents, administrators, and architects. The design process creates school environments that develop the whole child, instills enthusiasm for learning, and encourages positive social relationships. The practical methods detailed show how to link behavioral objectives to spatial needs; achieve spatial efficacy without compromising education; match children's developmental needs to facility requirements; promote greater variety in physical facilities to accommodate various teaching and learning styles; and gain more valuable feedback from teachers, parents, students, and local citizens on building performance. Additionally discussed are how relatively minor design modifications can significantly improve school performance; and the cost-effective ways a design can change students' spatial behavior, increase interaction with materials, decrease interruptions, promote more substantive questioning, and improve academic achievement. (Contains 158 references).

School Ways: The Planning and Design of America's Schools. Graves, Ben E. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1993.
This sourcebook draws upon award-winning educational projects to examine emerging trends and new technology in educational facilities design. It presents profiles of the best designed schools of the last decade; new trends in school layouts; essential programming information on space needs, classroom size, and other design criteria; design tips for accommodating computers and audio-visual equipment; and guidance on organizing the programming and design phases of school construction. Additionally, it explains how to prepare long-range facility plans, how to inventory and evaluate existing facilities, and how to prepare educational specifications as well as providing a detailed summary and directory of information and planning resources.

Schools Designed with Community Participation. (PDF). Sanoff, Henry. National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, Washington, DC, Jul 2002.
This publication presents case studies of school buildings to demonstrate the application of a post occupancy evaluation (POE) during various stages of the design and planning process. It explains that because POE is a process for gathering information about a building in use, it can be applied effectively both to renovation and expansion projects and to new construction. The case studies were selected because each addresses community and user participation as an integral part of the school planning process. In Jamestown, North Carolina, a POE incorporating a school building assessment survey was used for the Millis Road Elementary School addition to help architects learn about existing conditions and improvements expected in the new classroom addition. The Davidson Elementary School project in Davidson, North Carolina, linked all stages of the school building process, from user participation in the development of the program to the evolving design solution, and a building evaluation after completion. The Centennial Campus Middle School in Raleigh, North Carolina, began with a vision shared by university educators and county school officials about the creation of schools within a school. The Rosa Parks Elementary School in Berkeley, California, (formerly the Columbus School) demonstrated a participatory process that included parents, teachers, children, and community members who initiated and passed a bond measure to rebuild the earthquake-damaged school. The case studies include building plans and photographs. Appendices contain a six-factor school building checklist, a school building rating scale, an inclusive school building assessment checklist, and a classroom arrangement rating scale.

Schools for the Future. Exemplar Designs. Concepts and Ideas. Dept. for Education and Skills, London, England, Feb 2004.
Exemplar designs aim to improve the design quality of school buildings in England. The designs — five primary schools, five secondary schools and one 'all-through' school — have been created by eleven leading British architectural practices and are based on close work with administrators, teachers, and students. The designs are intended to to provide inspiration for LEAs and schools developing their educational vision and requirements for new schools, in order to drive up the standard of school building across the country. The designs aim to help develop a shared vision of what are 'Schools for the Future'; create benchmarks for well designed schools; push forward the boundaries of innovation and inspiration; support the delivery of the Building Schools for the Future program; and encourage industry to develop new ways of delivering school buildings. Many of the designs include 'extended schools' facilities for use by the wider community and all have been developed to respond to the demands of current teaching styles while looking to the possibilities of the future. Includes plans, drawings, and color photographs.

Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools. (PDF) Nathan, Joe; Thao, Sheena. National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, Washington, DC and Center for School Change, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. , 2007.
Provides a summary of research on small schools and shared facilities showing that, on average, smaller schools provide a safer and more challenging school environment that leads to higher academic achievement and graduation rates, fewer disciplinary problems, and greater satisfaction for families, students, and teachers. Also includes 22 case studies of public schools in 11 states, representing urban, suburban, and rural communities; district-run and charter public schools; and co-housing of almost 50 schools and social service agencies. These studies document the ability of smaller schools to improve academic achievement and behavior in safe, nurturing, and stimulating environments. The studies further suggest that sharing facilities with other organizations can enable schools to offer broader learning opportunities for students, provide higher quality services to students and their families, and present a way to efficiently use tax dollars.

Swiss Cheese Schools. Locker, Frank. SchoolFacilities.com, Orange, CA, Jun 18, 2007.
Describes the process of cutting holes between classrooms to open up traditional, double-loaded corridor schools. The resulting floor plan creates clusters of connected rooms that can more easily accommodate contemporary educational delivery.

The Great Learning Street Debate. Nair, Prakash. www.designshare.com, Minneapolis, MN, 2005.
Describes the attributes that a school "learning street" should possess, so that it is not just another double-loaded corridor. The space should be a social artery, enabling informal meeting and unhurried movement. It should possess nooks and crannies for various compatible school activities. It should be spacious, with ample daylight, and provide educational value that justifies its cost.

The Language of School Design: Design Patterns for 21st Century Schools. Nair, Prakash; Fielding, Randall. DesignShare.com, Minneapolis, MN, 2005.
Presents 25 design patterns, along with plans, sectional views, and photographs that illustrate existing innovative learning environments from around the world. Specific designs are offered for classrooms, common areas, storage, laboratories, the arts, physical fitness, outdoor spaces, dining areas, furnishings, and flexible spaces, with additional recommendations on lighting and ventilation. The impact of the designs on learning, socialization, and health is discussed in each section. Includes 21 references.

Thirty-Three Principles of Educational Design. Lackney, Jeffrey A. National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, Washington, D.C., 2000.
This provides a framework of educational design principles from which educators and design professionals can structure the content of their educational facility development process, from the earliest strategic and educational planning right through to design, construction, occupancy and facility management. The principles are divided into educational facility planning and design process principles, principles for site and building organization, principles for primary educational space, principles for shared school and community facilities, principles related to the character of all spaces, and those related to site design and outdoor learning spaces.

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