DESIGN BY FUNCTION (CONT) . EDUCATION
“Interestingly, the appropriate level of stimulation for learning turnedout tobe curvilinear - neither chaotic nor boring but somewhere in themiddle. It is easy to over stimulate pupils with vibrant colours and overly busy displays but white box classrooms are not the answer either.”
Colour Before embarking on a redecoration project, inspiration can be gained by looking at other schools to see what was successful or not. While there are no set rules, it can be helpful to plan an overall colour palette which lends itself to ease of maintenance. Depending on the size of the school or education facility a palette should consist of a few base colours for broad wall areas, trimcolours and feature walls colours. A bespoke palette can ensure fluidity throughout the school, avoidmonotony, and achieve a cohesive and well balanced scheme. A refined colour selection can create numerous combinations yet the decorative areas involved are not too excessive for quick touching up jobs. Ideally the reception should be clearly visible and areas within the building easily located. Tonal use of colour can ensure critical areas are easily defined; doorways emphasised, with
contrasting stair treads on steps. Colour can also be used to zone, this can be an advantage in larger schools. Each area such as the sports hall, dining area and toilet doors can be assigned a specific colour for easy recognition. Introducing school colours can help establish a community feel as long as they are used in context of the space. If a school colour is strong and vibrant, use it in small areas such as on a feature wall or as a less saturated shade. Variations and scale can be altered to ensure school colours work cohesively with others for a balanced and pleasing colour scheme. School uniforms should be accounted for within the scheme, if for example, the school uniformcolour is red, 30 red jumpers introduces a lot of colour into the classroom and so furniture and flooring choice should take this into account.
It can help to reduce eye strain if the teaching wall is amid toned colour, as it helps to rebalance the eye after staring at black and white text. High intensity colours are best used for energetic areas; sports areas or circulation areas, they can add pops of colour for interest and stimulation for example, multi coloured lockers or artwalls. Darker hues and pastels or greyed out shades are suited to high focus areas, such as science or mathematics rooms.
Barrett et al 2015
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