The Pretect process of school design and construction is about creating meaningful spaces in which students and teachers can learn together… with as little fuss or inconvenience as possible! The key planning for this is to work with the school developing the school’s Educational Brief; a process where Pretect’s expertise, experience and knowledge combines with that of the school to identify all the project requirements.
An Educational Brief (EB) helps Pretect’s Architects understand the school, its community and their anticipated outcomes. Often containing: Vision and Mission statements, Learning and Teaching philosophies, Demographics and individual learning needs, the EB provides a starting point for deeper discussion and design decisions. It considers issues like collaboration, social learning, flexibility, innovative pedagogies, future uses and prompts questions around:
- Who is the Building for and what Teaching and Learning (T&L) Methodologies will be used?
- Students’: learning, behaviour, social and emotional needs, out of school hours activities etc.
- How are relationships managed? How will students, staff and families work together?
- How would people like to operate within and around the building and how can the building facilitate the best T&L outcomes?
- What makes the school special? Its character, values, way of being, what it does differently and how it functions within its community.
- Future directions and plans, growth predictions, ongoing operating and maintenance costs
- Location, climate, site-orientation, aesthetics of the existing buildings or neighbourhood
- What message should this building give, from the school, to the community?
- What is an ideal T&L environment? What are ideal T&L practices, what is stopping us using them now, how could this new space enhance students’ school experience?
- What, in practice, is a flexible learning space? What functional flexibility is required?
- What actually is an innovative learning community? How does it function, what does it look like and how could the design assist our innovations?
There is no such thing as a standard Learning Environment and this process of jointly establishing the design elements is what makes Pretect such a good partner for educational projects. Plus, the process from here on happens quickly and efficiently while school life continues undisturbed.
- From the tight brief, Pretect’s educational architects then apply factors of sustainability, efficiency, timeframe and budget while maintaining Early Contractor Involvement with our prefabricated, modular production team.
- A Concept Design is approved and Construction and Working Drawings are produced.
- The project budget is agreed to and fixed.
- Factory manufacture of the building gets underway with the possibility of variations still being possible for minimal cost, while production proceeds.
- Meanwhile, Planning Approvals are sought and site preparation can begin. Issues of possible onsite demolition and student decanting are resolved.
- After about 12 weeks, the modules are delivered and assembled onsite. The onsite completion period involves fit out, services connections and landscaping, occupancy certification and final hand-over.
Throughout, working with Pretect to achieve a prefabricated modular building solution delivers the design you want with the benefits of:
- Significantly faster build time with minimal disruption to school life
- Better build quality from ISO Accredited, factory manufacturing processes
- Time and cost savings and the assurance of predetermined timeframe and budget
- Wellbeing, health and safety benefits for school community members and the project workers
- Environmentally friendly building practices and sustainable design options leading to reduced whole of life maintenance and operating costs
- An easier to manage, less intrusive building process leaving school leaders to focus on their core responsibilities.
Like to know more about great educational outcomes? Message me on LinkedIn, visit www.pretect.com.au or email me at justin@pretect.com.au.
About the Author: An experienced educator and school leader, Justin worked in Victorian metro, regional, government and private schools across four decades. As Principal, he oversaw numerous school building programs and is now an Education Construction specialist with Pretect Commercial Modular Buildings.