Evidence-Based Design of Elementary and Secondary Schools: A Responsive Approach to Creating Learning Environments

An in-depth, evidence-based design approach to the design of elementary and secondary schools

The contemporary school must be a vibrant, living extension of its community. Evidence-Based Design of Elementary and Secondary Schools instructs design professionals on how to successfully achieve this goal. With assistance from research-intensive principles grounded in theories, concepts, and research methodologies—and with roots in the behavioral sciences—this book examines and provides strategies for pooling streams of information to establish a holistic design approach that is responsive to the changing needs of educators and their students. This book:

• Delivers an overview of the current research and learning theories in education, and how they apply to contemporary school design

• Explores the history of school design in the United States

• Examines the role of information technology in education

• Includes case studies of more than twenty exemplary school designs, based on research of the best physical environments for learning and education

• Considers what learning environments may be in the near future

Evidence-Based Design of Elementary and Secondary Schools analyzes the current shift toward a modern architectural paradigm that balances physical beauty, and social awareness, and building technologies with functionality to create buildings that optimize the educational experience for all learners. Enlightening as well as informative, this forward-thinking guide provides educational facility planners, designers, and architects with the tools they need to confidently approach their next school building project. In addition, this guide provides administrators, educators, and researchers with design options for rethinking and creating innovative learning environments.

PETER C. LIPPMAN is a senior architectural staff member of the Educational Practice Group at JCJ Architecture in New York City. He has worked on a range of educational projects, including elementary and secondary schools, as well as higher education facilities. From 2001 to 2004, Lippman served as chair for the AIANY Chapter Committee on Architecture for Education, where he developed and presented programs that examined and extended ideas about the design of school environments.