Five ways to turn school buildings into teaching aids

1. Make sustainable features into a conversation starter

“We’re educating young people to have a much greater awareness of sustainability, so if we’re not sharing how we’re decarbonising their school, we’re not doing our job,” says Ridge Architecture Partner Alice Parker. “If you put in solar panels or a green roof, you can use that as a teaching aid, or we might put a window into the plant room so the teacher can say ‘this is the engine of your school’.” This is exactly what Ridge is doing at a new innovation centre for a school in Surrey, adds Kat Adair, which is designed to be a sustainability flagship.

“We’re not covering anything up, so it will all be visible to the students. There’s a full timber structure, with exposed beams so they can see exactly how the building has been made, and they’ll be able to see the heat pumps in the plant room too. It’s a space for kids to learn, but it’s also a teaching tool in itself.” 

2. Give them a brief to meet

Our Social Value team challenged pupils in Bristol to design their own sustainable housing development, as part of a work experience week for students who’d missed out on placements. Ridge is working with Bristol City Council to improve the energy efficiency of its housing stock, explains Apprentice Social Value Coordinator Rory Coltart.

“This programme aimed to elevate the young people’s understanding of energy consumption and the measures we could put in place to mitigate our impact on the world we live in.”

The students had a brief presentation about the Green Living project, and then had to create their own scheme following the client’s specification, including two pieces of renewable energy infrastructure per property. “They approached the activity with enthusiasm and were insightful and innovative in the solutions they found,” says Rory. “All three teams produced designs with an individual twist, while still keeping to the brief.”  

3. Turn the big decisions over to them

Year 12 students at Cherwell school in Oxford wrestled with the intricacies of local planning decisions, when four members of our local team asked them to identify the best site for the city’s new football stadium, where Ridge is providing a range of consultancy services. The students explored considerations such as layout, sustainability, community impact and overall project feasibility, says Paul Robertson, Project Management Associate at Ridge. “We got them to design their own stadium, and to look at locations around Oxford and the flood risk of different sites, so they could really engage with the built environment and the work that we do.”  

4. Bring maths to life

Understanding how school subjects are applied in the real world can make the difference between boredom and inspiration. Year 9 students at a SEND provider in Knowsley got a taste of maths in the wild from Quantity Surveying undergraduate Charlie Rawcliffe, who joined Ridge on his year-in-industry work placement. Charlie gave them an insight into the life of a Cost Manager, before setting them to work costing the paint for their school’s refurbishment, using only a floor map, workbook and a ruler.  

5. Spark their imagination – with marshmallows and spaghetti

A team from our London office introduced students at Ark Elvin Academy in Brent to careers in construction, and specifically architecture, taking part in a Q&A and inviting them to build the tallest structure that they could out of marshmallows and (uncooked!) spaghetti. We were very impressed by the size and scale of their creations, and even more gratified by the feedback from the school’s Head of Year. “The experience the students had with your team has been truly transformative, and we cannot thank you enough for making a positive difference in their lives,” Donavere Benjamin-Mahon said. “The hands-on experience and exposure to real-life work scenarios have been incredibly valuable.”  

“We’re always thinking about how we can generate social value through our projects. Schools are important local ecosystems, places of safety where we go every day, and common ground for different communities to come together. So there’s an massive opportunity for companies like Ridge to work with them to generate social value in so many areas: education, aftercare, support for older people, jobs, biodiversity. Schools already bring immense value, but we’d like to help them do even more.”   

Lauren Bailey, Head of Social Value, Ridge