It’s no secret that the environment surrounding us has a direct impact on our mood, our energy levels and even our productivity. This is particularly important when it comes to a school’s interior design, which, according to Sport Photo Gallery (a sucessful company that has a school interior design service) can dramatically affect pupils’ performance.
Interior design in an educational environment is about more than creating a visually attractive and impressive space. It’s about providing pupils with a space in which they feel comfortable, relaxed, organised and motivated. All of which are known to directly influence our capacity to learn, grow and evolve.
Worldwide, educators and interior designers are working together to create inspiring spaces for pupils of all ages. Far more than simply choosing the right colours for the right environments, it’s about making every effort to set the right mood for learners. Extensive studies have drawn direct links between classroom contentment and improved assimilation of information.
As to how school interior design can influence both the mood and the learning experience of pupils, it’s all about focusing on the comfort and quality of the educational environment.
Creating a relaxing environment
Irrespective of age, it is impossible to learn effectively in an uncomfortable or intimidating environment. By contrast, human beings in general always achieve bigger and better things when they are comfortable and relaxed. Therefore, this should be the primary focus of any interior designer working with educators. Creating a relaxed and comfortable environment means considering all furniture, fixtures and decorative touches across the respective space.
Inspiring imagery
Kids of all ages adorn their walls with posters of individuals they aspire to emulate in the future. Hence, it simply makes sense to bring the same inspiring imagery into the classroom. It’s one thing to brighten up a classroom with a few random stock photographs – it’s something else entirely to surround pupils with truly inspiring imagery. Something as simple as a few strategically selected sport posters really could make a big difference.
Improving organisation
Effective organisation is essential for bringing order to the chaos that is the traditional classroom environment. This means ensuring not only that everything has its place, but that intelligent storage solutions are used to keep distractions out of sight and out of mind. In educational and business environments alike, it’s a proven fact that chaos and clutter have a detrimental impact on our performance, our efficiency and our capacity to learn. Our moods are directly affected by our surroundings – chaotic surroundings making it difficult to perform in a controlled and effective manner.
Making the space functional
It’s not uncommon for interior design projects to fall short of the mark by failing to focus enough attention on functionality. It’s one thing for an educational space to look the part – it’s something else entirely for it to do its job properly. Functionality and practicality go hand in hand, concerning the ease with which pupils and teaching staff can go about their daily business. True functionality can be particularly difficult to achieve where space is at a premium, but must nonetheless be prioritised.
Creating a healthy and safe space
Health and safety in the classroom is once again related to the comfort and confidence of each and every pupil. An educational environment that is clearly safe naturally inspires confidence and productivity. For obvious reasons, health and safety should be the number one priority for educators at all levels. The safer we feel, the more likely we are to gain maximum value from the information and experiences we’re exposed to.
The personal touch
Last but not least, it is particularly important for pupils to feel as if they have had at least some influence over the environment in which they learn. This is why interior design projects for schools should always incorporate the element of interactivity. Typical examples of which could include chalkboard paint on specific areas around the classroom, magnet/pinboards for mounting work and so on. It’s all about bringing in the personal touch into the classroom and making pupils feel at home. Just as we adorn our homes with personal trinkets to elevate our mood, it’s exactly the same in an educational setting.
The Takeaway…
Every classroom is different, but can nonetheless benefit enormously from a proactive approach to interior design. All too often, educational environments prioritise form over function, or vice-versa.
However, it’s only when presentation and practicality are brought together in perfect harmony that the stage is set for effective learning.