Considerable investment has been made to redesign built spaces in schools, with an assumption not based on research evidence embedded in both the architectural and educational literature that this will improve teaching and learning practices. In this study of 12 Victorian case studies in Australia schools were selected based on OECD criteria, not…

Finnish education has recently experienced reforms with respect to guidelines forming the curriculum framework for basic education and school architecture. Since 2016, all new schools incorporate open and flexible design, at least to some extent. The more open school design challenges the conventional organisation of space and pre-defined…

This occasional paper is the fourth in a series on the National Quality Framework (NQF). This paper offers detailed insights into education and care service quality ratings for Quality Area 3 (physical environment) of the National Quality Standard (NQS). The focus is on ensuring the physical environment of a service is safe, suitable and provides…

This article argues in favour of challenging "best practice" generally accepted by the architectural profession by embracing a responsive design approach for creating learning environments. Such an approach accepts that the environment shapes the learner, and that learners influence their environment. A responsive design approach would embrace the…

This brief bibliography lists publications about the transitional areas between buildings or leading into or out of buildings. These spaces are usually public spaces, at least in urban areas, that perform functions influencing human behavior, including visual separation or connection, territorial definition, and control of traffic and climatic…

A constant challenge for any university location within an urban residential enclave is to engage the neighboring community in a continuing and purposeful dialogue on how to mitigate the negative impacts and increase the positive impacts of its presence on the quality of life of that community. The Maryland Plan, a strategy resulting from a shared…