03 November 2009
Architecture and Design Scotland has launched its new school design web resource ‘Smarter Places’. This unique resource has been designed to deliver a simple objective; to provide everyone who wants to participate in school design with the means to explore and share their ideas.
Speaking before the launch Keith Brown, Minister for Schools and Skills, said:
“The Smarter Places web resource will allow all those who wish to participate in designing Scotland’s future schools to now have the opportunity to explore school design and communicate their ideas. This new tool is entirely consistent with the importance that the Scottish Government has placed on good design and consultation in our School Estate Strategy – Building Better Schools.
“By using images, videos and downloads, all those with an interest in good school design – be that young people, teachers, planners, architects or parents - can now access many interesting examples from schools across Scotland.”
A spokesman for A+DS said:
“Getting feedback from pupils, parents, teachers and the wider community when designing a school can be vital; not least because they can have exceptional ideas. Smarter Places allows users to create a scrapbook of different elements of a school that they like. This scrapbook can then be shared with others in a variety of ways, giving people the opportunity to evolve and communicate their ideas about the sort of school they want to see.“
The launch of Smarter Places was hosted by the University of Edinburgh Architecture department as part of a joint event that also marks the publication of a book by Fiona McLachlan and Rachael Hallett “Thinking, Teaching, Learning: Explorations in Primary School Design”.