Life Lessons For Learning

Five of our influential women explain why a creative approach to design for education is more important today than ever before. Focusing on space that promotes children’s mental and physical wellbeing is paramount to counter the impact of a worldwide pandemic.

They reveal how design thinking has changed to respond to a postCovid-19 world and why encouraging more females into the industry is essential to redress diversity and balance inclusion.

Sue Emms,

North Region Chair Sue tells a story about Devonshire Primary School in Blackpool which sums up her passion for designing educational buildings and her desire to create socially motivated architecture.

“It was my first education building, and we engaged with the pupils throughout the design process. At the school opening, I stood on a play deck with the head teacher, and come the end of the day when the bell rang the pupils didn’t want to leave. They just could not believe someone had listened and created something for them; such an uplifting, secure environment. The head and I looked at each other, and we knew we’d done our job correctly.”

Sue says it’s great to win design awards, “but when students and pupils are inspired by the space, and you see education and attainment standards going up and anti-social behaviour

Devonshire Primary School, Blackpool

Rebecca Ellis,

Structural Engineer

dropping - that is special! It shows that education can change people’s lives and be a huge catalyst for social, cultural and economic regeneration.”

Sue also designs for higher education and she is already seeing the impact of Covid-19 on the acceleration of digital learning. She believes students of the future will experience blended learning, studying online at home and then attending classes for a different type of education. “It’ll be face to face, collaborative, active and applied learning, gaining real life skills that are good for employability.”

As a result, the traditional big lecture theatre is already being replaced on the drawing board by flexible floor spaces. Single academic offices “will go out of the window - to be replaced by collaborative space.” The environment will also be at the forefront of future trends in the sector, as will mental health and wellbeing. “People need interaction, but also exercise. A lot of universities are targeting participatory sport, rather than just elite. University estates of the future will have to look at how they can adapt to change and be agile.”

Sue leads an initiative called bdpbelonging, which encourages diversity and inclusion within the practice. “We look at all types of representation making sure everybody, regardless of background, race, or gender, has a place and feels they are part of BDP. We want to remove barriers to allow people to progress and one area we need to focus on is increasing representation of women at a higher level.” At school Rebecca’s friends didn’t know what a structural engineer was. Today, Rebecca is a tutor at the University of Bristol and a STEM ambassador, educating pupils, particularly girls, about the profession.

“Engineering can be an overlooked course and career. I was attracted to its problem-solving character, working with people and numbers. It’s all about coming up with a creative design solution, supported and solved by the maths.”

Rebecca says things are changing, albeit slowly. “The university is more mixed now than when I left seven years ago – there are definitely more females on the course, but we’re not close to having 50/50 parity and it is rare to have females in senior positions.” She cites her own role models; her school physics teacher and BDP’s head of civil and structural engineering, Michelle McDowell.

Rebecca highlights the Mathematical Sciences Building at the University of Warwick which opened in 2017 as a standout scheme. “The new building was to house different engineering sciences in one collaborative space. Set at the heart of the campus it required complex links to existing structures that were easily accessible to academics and students. The six-storey atrium at the centre connected the building yet enabled transparency, a great solution for multiple disciplines.”

Sheffield Hallam University – online exhibition

University of Birmingham, Teaching and Learning Building

Robyn Poulson,

Architect Associate

Svetlana’s approach and attitude to architecture reflects her history. Her home country of Ukraine gave her a love of constructivism; later she worked for three years amid the Bauhaus architecture of Tel Aviv, followed by two years in Italy before finally settling in Birmingham. A job with the City Architect department fired her passion for education. Her latest project is the Teaching and Learning Building at the University of Birmingham, a state of the art teaching and social study space at the centre of the parkland campus.

It opened in January 2020, just two months before the global lockdown, but because of the flexible design, the building could be adapted to the new social distancing era when it reopened in July.

“The university asked us how they could make the building safe. There are two staircases on the east and west sides which supported a oneway flow through the building and a reconfiguration of furniture and settings allowed the building to accommodate flexible social learning with the regulation two metre space around students.”

Svetlana is ardent about the role of women in the sector. She participates in school career days supported by the practice and works with the RIBA’s Architect Ambassadors “supporting local schools with immersion days explaining the profession and the opportunities that the sector provides.”

Svetlana Solomonova,

Architect Director Robyn is fascinated by early learning. “To design spaces that benefit and promote learning is hugely important.”

Describing her childhood school in rural Devon as “grey blocks, dull landscaping, lots of corridors, unremarkable,” Robyn claims this helped her to make learning spaces “more inspiring, joyous, and fun. Even a formal set-up doesn’t have to be white walls and a grey ceiling – it should be much more than that.”

Robyn incorporated these uplifting elements into the design of Francis Holland School in London, completed in the summer of 2019. “The new learning centre summed up everything we were trying to achieve in terms of creating an inspiring, fun, safe space, completely different to a traditional library. It offers an alternative environment, while a rooftop garden maximises connection with the outdoors – we didn’t want to lose any external footprint.”

Worlds away from the school’s old wood panelled library, the new building flaunts book-lined curves, traditional long study desks, high laptop benches and reading dens through a variety of different surfaces and levels. It has three zones for use by the school’s different age groups ranging from four to 18.

“Given the different ages, we were keen not to create divisions between any of the pupils. We wanted that social learning space and the ability to break down boundaries and achieve mentoring and support between the year groups. While they are zoned differently, they can also merge to use the space as they wish.”

The roof garden boasts lush planting and Robyn proudly claims “it offers a bug hotel, with various species helping with biology lessons. There is also a herb garden cared for by the pupils, and the herbs are used in the canteen.”

Lindsey Mitchell, Architect Director

Lindsey explains her route into architecture with a great deal of modesty. “I was nervous about my interview at the Mackintosh School of Architecture as I didn’t know much about the profession,” she recalls, “but much of the interview was about my personality and cultural interests, that’s a big part of creating your own identity as an architect.”

Lindsey spent time designing a mix of buildings in Chicago and London before returning home to join our Glasgow studio where she now leads the design of some of Scotland’s foremost primary and secondary school facilities.

“Education can determine how people live the rest of their lives”, she says, “and I’m passionate about designing places that inspire children; places for a broad range of learners, where young people don’t feel like they have to leave their personalities at the door.”

At St Brigid's Primary School Newmains outdoor learning spaces, sustainable materials and engaging interventions combine to inspire visitors, teachers and children alike. “Designing modern schools is about enabling moments of imagination and joy – we focus on creating spaces that inspire enthusiasm for learning” says Lindsey. A helical slide encourages children to move between floors, while reading nooks and reflection areas offer spaces for the children to learn, play and socialise.

On working in a male-dominated profession, Lindsey sees herself as an architect, not a female architect. She expounds the virtues instilled from her own education – “I just get my head down and get the work done. I think we are getting closer to a balance, but we can always do better and I believe that more flexible working, noticeable representation and mentoring schemes will help more women to climb the professional ladder.”

St Brigid’s Primary School Newmains

Joanna Szybejko, Architect

Both Joanna’s parents are architects so she never considered it a male profession. “Compared to the UK, in Poland there is a slight difference in attitudes to gender diversity in architecture - although there is definitely still room for improvement. I was lucky to have my mum and her friends as role models but I’m still aware of the need for more women to be inspired to join the profession.”

While attitudes to women working in the built environment are changing, Joanna believes in encouraging all young pupils to choose the right career. “Giving support from an early age when you think you can do anything you want is important. Later, at university or at work, if you have people who encourage you and tell you that it doesn’t matter if you are a boy or a girl it makes a huge difference.” Svetlana was a mentor on her first major scheme, Trinity Academy Bristol, one of the UK’s specialist music and performing arts schools. “She gave me the opportunity to take more responsibility and become a project architect.”

The new building is due to open late summer and includes a 570seat performing space, drama and dance studios, bespoke and general classrooms, laboratories, library, sixth form study and social areas, as well as a Special Educational Needs centre. Joanna believes designing in a postCovid-19 world will mean the creation of more open spaces. “Social interaction and contact are what the kids miss most. After a year at home, children will need encouragement to socialise again and they will need the space to do it, especially if we have post Covid-19 distancing rules.”

Ayr Grammar Primary School

The Grade B listed school has been sensitively restored and a new early years centre and community facilities added, continuing a tradition of learning and teaching on the site that stretches back to the 13th century. Adjacent to the Cromwellian Citadel of 1650, the void of the moat houses the co-located Ayrshire Archive, the roof of which has been developed as a playground doubling play area for pupils.