Names will be omitted to protect…well, whomever.

DESIGNING THE “GREAT ROOM”: Many educational facility designers have focused on the great room concept. Commonly this space is characterized by a particularly high ceiling, open space feel, exposed joists or other architectural features which suggest volume and mass and provide emotional impact. From its very definition as a "great room" it emphasizes the size and shape of the space over its functionality and intent by the user. Often, "high" became an end in itself.

But, how high should a ceiling be?

It depends on the size and functionality of the room in which it occurs and particularly the physical size of the student.

When the elementary classroom is being designed with a twelve to fourteen foot high ceiling with open air ducts, several learning elements may be ignored.

• Rising hot air may make the floor area cold for elementary students, particularly those in kindergarten through third grade.
• Noise generated by the exposed ducts may reverberate into the ceiling and disrupt educational communication below.
• Aesthetically, the ceiling area may be unattractive.
• A poorly insulated room may generate noise when hard rains or other inclement weather occurs outside.

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS AND WINDOWS: When speaking of windows, many user groups will simply say make them abundant. "More, please!" was appropriate for Oliver Twist in the movie Oliver. For schools, however, simply providing "more" windows can become dysfunctional and educationally inappropriate.

Multimedia is a prime example.
Available wall surface may not be aligned properly for clear and direct visibility to present materials.
Combined with ceiling height, there is no appropriate location for the placement of a pull-down screen.
Secondary light from adjacent windows can produce glare or wash out the intensity of the visible image.

A successful multi-use space should engage technology, multi-media, and small and large group activities. Windows, ceiling height and wall locations must consider those intended activities first and not be an after-thought during the occupancy phase.

Ceiling height is particularly relevant when the room is especially small, such as in a small conference room where ceiling height can be disproportionate to seated students or employees.

In the example conference room above, many adults wore gloves and coats throughout the day because the room was so cold. This did not promote the "Green" building philosophy supported by many in the educational community.

PERSONAL PRIVACY – "Peeking" under your desk: Imagine sitting at your desk and having a person underneath watching what you do. This is clearly an absurd idea and totally beyond the wildest imagination. For the mini-skirt wearing female, it would be an intrusion of the worst category. Yet, inappropriate window height, orientation of desks and visibility from other rooms can pose such a dilemma.

Imagine a window adjacent to an office which is 18 inches below the work surface. The unfortunate result is as follows:

• Conference room viewers can look underneath the desk, and more.
• Personal areas are easily observable.
• Stored supplies and electrical chords create a cluttered and unattractive appearance.
• What was intended to be a solution to the request for "more windows, please" becomes a detrimental invasion of privacy, a revelation of messiness, and has a generally unacceptable result.

ENGINEERING COORDINATION IN DESIGN: Often we consider architecture the primary element of the design process. Within the context of architecture, however, are the important sub-groups of engineers. Often these people are never brought to the attention of the client and are seldom involved directly in the design process. Rather, they respond to a floor-plan layout that is provided to them in schematic design and then later Phase II & III documents. This ultimately results in a set of construction documents that are bid, built and occupied before the engineers are given an opportunity to collaborate with architects to effectively match design with engineering techniques.

Coordination between disciplines is essential to any professional activity and it is paramount to the success of a school design.

When ceiling height, electrical fixed-lighting fixtures, and mechanical systems are not design coordinated, numerous problems may arise including:

• Lighting fixtures being above the mechanical system.
• Inappropriate distance between lighting fixture and illumination of work surfaces.
• Difficulty in accessing light fixtures for the replacement of light bulbs and other general maintenance.
• Shadows created on work surfaces where employees or students ultimately conduct their business.

The fundamentals of architectural design must equally include properly managing the interface of all participatory disciplines from mechanical to electrical to civil engineering, site development and drainage.

Many times a design process begins with what the building will look like on the site and the image it will give to the community. These are critically important elements to selling a bond referendum or supporting a client’s comfort with artistic and imaginative capabilities within the community. Yet the fundamentals of design will determine how the user actually performs within the building.

Are users successful day to day?

Are they comfortable and warm in their activities?

Does the space support acoustical requirements for the hearing impaired or the English as a second language student?

How might the design impact the use of multimedia, glare or other technology related factors?

Before we can properly plan for schools of the future or any buildings designed for the twenty-first century, a core foundation must be established in designing the fundamentals of any building to meet the demands of any user group. When applied to schools, this becomes an increasingly complex interrelationship that must be thought through in substantial detail. To assist in this regard, consider the following:

Conduct early and regular meetings between the sub-professionals such that they understand first hand the intention, performance and functionality of each space.

Engage the client in actually meeting with the other professionals in a brief but focused dialogue about building use.

Let engineers and other professionals walk other client facilities to understand first-hand design intent.

Conduct cross-disciplinary plan review to avoid inappropriate mismatching of the overlapping building components.

Provide a plan review process by an outside design professional who asks the tough questions while the building is still in the electronic/paper form and not physically sitting on the site.

Conduct a post-occupancy evaluation of the building to assure that design elements which perform well are replicated, while those that are less than desirable can be changed and made better next time.

We have a solid foundation for better schools of the future in our schools of the past. We should build on the incredible history and strengths of our existing schools as we move toward our schools of the future.


Franklin Hill, Ph.D., Franklin Hill & Associates is an international educational facility planning consultant. He develops educational specifications, facility master plans, performance design standards, and plan review services for school districts and architectural firms across the United States and Canada. He has been a vice-president with an architectural firm, a program management firm, 100,000+ pupil school district before opening his own consulting practice in 1987.
He is recognized for his practicality, functionality, and focus on cost control. He is a well-regarded futurist in school design of the Disney Celebration School which originated the now popular "small school learning communities" model.
If you have suggestions, comments or questions, write directly to Frank@franklinhill.com or call 425-466-5754.