Pupils have designs on striking schools of the future

Published on Monday 25 February 2008 21:21

A BLUEPRINT for futuristic school designs was unveiled yesterday.

Fiona Hyslop, the education secretary, opened an exhibition in Glasgow that features ideas for schools with no corridors, flexible walls and hexagonal classrooms.

Pupils from across Scotland helped demonstrate the designs they had helped architects create.

One design suggests ditching corridors and creating a "village" of classrooms under an Eden Project-type roof. The idea is to create extra teaching spaces and remove anonymous dead spaces.

Another featured a room with six walls complete with glass display cases for pupils' work, low-level windows and musical lasers.

Children from Stirling, West Lothian, North Lanarkshire, Orkney and Argyll and Bute contributed ideas under themes such as active play, additional support needs and science.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Architecture and Design Scotland project to help councils get the best from future building projects.

A booklet of the exhibition has been produced to help guide designs for schools, hospitals and other public buildings.

Ms Hyslop said: "It just shows what creative and bright spaces you can have in buildings.

"It is about learning and teaching and how we develop the buildings and schools of tomorrow, and the creativity and choice young people can bring to the design stage.

"It is about thinking differently."

The exhibition, called "The Senses of Place: Building Excellence" will run at the Lighthouse in Glasgow until 13 April.