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Illuminating extractfrom 1950 Ministry of Education MOE Report

‘We are forced to choose between three courses of action.

The first is to build only the small amount we’re likely to be able to afford.

The second is to accept a drastic reduction in space and quality whilst maintaining the same total.

The third course is to approach the whole problem of building afresh, with the object of devising a fundamentally simpler technique: a technique which gives us greater beauty, comfort and value at a lower cost’

1950 Ministry of Education Report MOE

IT WOULD APPEAR THAT WE MAY BE GREEDY AND LOOK TO DO ALL THREE OPTIONS AT ONCE!

Then in 1957 the MOE Pamphlet No 33
The story of post-war school building (MOE, 1957) identified five ways in which the cost per square foot of school building had been restrained from rising as fast or as steeply as general building costs:

By greater knowledge and control of the constituent items of cost (through cost analysis and cost planning)

By substantial reduction in the in the cubic content of each school building (mainly by lowering ceiling heights)

By harnessing scientific and industrial skills to compliment architecture skill in search of better and more economical methods of solving old problems (through prefabrication, better fire protection, more efficient light fittings and reduction in underground ducts)

By reducing the scale of school buildings and their fittings from that of an adults to that of a child’s world (toilet facilities, cloakroom fittings, cupboards and furniture)

By not indulging in costly architectural styles and devices.
History and making sure that you do not repeat errors that others have made but learn from them and repeat the good things they invented or discovered seems to be a lost skill amongst many - in this instant age people seem to only shoot from the hip and look for a twitter worthy snappy headline grabbing comment.

Fundamentally good education relies on good teachers, support from parents etc students who are cared for both socially, economically, well fed and nourished both physically and spiritually and given a balanced opportunity to investigate by themselves as well as being directed - this can be supported by good design but never replaced by it - however bad design or a lack of it can hamper good education - back in the 50's and 60's a number of standard designs were adopted for schools and then applied badly with little understanding of orientation, levels, context etc.