Successful school design also involves a deep level of community engagement right from the beginning. The result — the product of feeling heard and valued by their stakeholders — is buildings that serve educational needs well for generations of students, which contributes to long-term pride felt throughout their communities. For an Education Architect, visit Quattro.
Start with comprehensive stakeholder mapping. Define all stakeholders: students, parents, teachers and school staff members (non-teaching), local neighbours / citizens and non-profit organisations. They all come with their own perspectives that are needed to make spaces work.
Also, be sure not to look past stakeholders that may seem less obvious as local businesses or sports clubs that could utilise the facility.
Employ multiple modes of engagement to meet the diverse ways in which people like to be communicated with. Some may gravitate to traditional in-person meetings, while others would rather fill out an online design survey. Models or virtual reality tours work well with younger stakeholders. Multiple touchpoints ensure broader participation.
Keep the line of communication open and transparent all along the way. Regular newsletters, dedicated websites and social media updates help to ensure that everyone is kept up-to-date on progress as well as forthcoming opportunities for consultation. Sharing transparently inspires trust and keeps engagement moving.
So make sure to keep feedback actionable by explaining why you feel a certain way and how it can be addressed in the design going forward. If the suggestions are not actionable, or if they are put into place but do not work out (or make the situation worse), address them and explain why. This is community-mindedness that actually respects the views of said communities rather than engaging in tokenistic consultation.
Use visual tools from an Education Architect that explain architectural concepts to non-experts. 3D models, artist impressions or scale drawings make abstract plans real instead of just a concept.
Consider: Plan for future iterations past the initial design phases. Project steering groups, with members sitting representatives of the community, help sustain their input throughout construction and after commissioning.
