Educational Environment at 100+ TechnoBuild: Focus on Designing the Future
Vladislava Kalinina, the Head of akvk+partners, moderated and spoke at the key session “Education Facilities” at the 100+ TechnoBuild 2024 International Construction Forum. In her opening remarks, she highlighted the global shift in the paradigm of social facility design. Today, modern schools are no longer perceived by developers as a “social burden.” Rather, they have become a strategic resource for all participants in the urban planning process and a foundation for sustainable development.
Key advantages of a high-quality educational environment:
- For developers: the presence of a modern, architecturally expressive school significantly increases the capitalization of housing and the attractiveness of the area.
- For residents: the city receives a multifunctional infrastructure that becomes a center of attraction, providing new opportunities for development and leisure for people of all ages.
Today, designing progressive educational spaces today is an endless exploration of how a structure of a building shapes a child's cognitive skills and attitude toward the world. The school becomes a platform for dialogue among people, technology, and nature. During the main session program, Vladislava Kalinina presented an expert report and shared the principles that the akvk+partners team implements in its projects to create conditions that address tomorrow’s challenges.
1. Comprehensive Dialogue
Success of the project begins with establishing contact between architects, authorities, and future users. This stage cannot be skipped: design must be based on the real request of the community, not on the dry figures of the technical specifications.
2. Foresight Design
With hundreds of new professions expected to emerge within the next 30 years, we create spaces for the development of cross-professional skills, such as intercultural communication, flexibility, and the ability to solve complex problems in groups.
3. Safety by Design (CPTED)
We distinguish between the concepts of “security” and “safety.” True safety is a friendly environment without “blind spots”, where architectural and socio-pedagogical components protectively reduce the risks of aggression and bullying.
4. Mental Health and Inclusion
Psychological well-being directly impacts learning effectiveness. With the rise in ASD and ADHD, modern schools are obliged to provide psychological relief zones and specialized spaces for correctional classes available to all students.
1. Comprehensive Dialogue
Success of the project begins with establishing contact between architects, authorities, and future users. This stage cannot be skipped: design must be based on the real request of the community, not on the dry figures of the technical specifications.
2. Foresight Design
With hundreds of new professions expected to emerge within the next 30 years, we create spaces for the development of cross-professional skills, such as intercultural communication, flexibility, and the ability to solve complex problems in groups.
3. Safety by Design (CPTED)
We distinguish between the concepts of “security” and “safety.” True safety is a friendly environment without “blind spots”, where architectural and socio-pedagogical components protectively reduce the risks of aggression and bullying.
4. Mental Health and Inclusion
Psychological well-being directly impacts learning effectiveness. With the rise in ASD and ADHD, modern schools are obliged to provide psychological relief zones and specialized spaces for correctional classes available to all students.
5. Biophilic Design
Landscaping, natural light, and natural materials are tools for balancing the psychoemotional background and fostering environmental awareness, not just decoration
6. Educational Ecosystem
The school is no longer a closed entity. It is an interdisciplinary model that involves families, business, science, and culture. The school building becomes a community center, open to residents in the after-school hours.
7. Synchronicity of Processes.
The implementation of non-standard ideas is possible only with the synergy of all participants, from designers and builders to expert bodies and standard-setters. Only synchronous work allows for successful innovation.
8. Operational Management.
A complex building requires smart management. It is important to create “operational manuals” that help the administration to effectively use all the possibilities of modern architecture and preserve the ideas embedded in the project.
9. Feedback Culture
Post-project research, which includes interviews with students and teachers, is a mandatory stage. The Feedback helps to understand how the building is actually performing and serves as a basis for improving the regulatory framework and future projects.
Landscaping, natural light, and natural materials are tools for balancing the psychoemotional background and fostering environmental awareness, not just decoration
6. Educational Ecosystem
The school is no longer a closed entity. It is an interdisciplinary model that involves families, business, science, and culture. The school building becomes a community center, open to residents in the after-school hours.
7. Synchronicity of Processes.
The implementation of non-standard ideas is possible only with the synergy of all participants, from designers and builders to expert bodies and standard-setters. Only synchronous work allows for successful innovation.
8. Operational Management.
A complex building requires smart management. It is important to create “operational manuals” that help the administration to effectively use all the possibilities of modern architecture and preserve the ideas embedded in the project.
9. Feedback Culture
Post-project research, which includes interviews with students and teachers, is a mandatory stage. The Feedback helps to understand how the building is actually performing and serves as a basis for improving the regulatory framework and future projects.
Session Summary: Participants concluded that high-quality social architecture is not only a matter of aesthetics today, but also an effective investment in human capital and the future of cities.
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