Designed to move from students from class to class quickly, traditional "double-loaded corridors" are often uninviting
The epitome of efficiency, school corridors are built to effectively transfer large volumes of students from room to room in short spans of time. However, visually, they are often quite lackluster. Rows of metal lockers line cramped hallways adorned with tiled floors and fluorescent lighting. But what if this wasn’t the case? What if hallways were designed with students rather than efficiency in mind?
Architects have started doing just that in order to craft more creative and inviting spaces. Denmark’s Hellerup Skoll, designed by Arkitema Architects, utilizes hallways and stairways as additional areas for learning by creating areas spacious enough for the entire school to meet and learn as one. Florida’s Miami-Dade Prototype School created a similar “Main Street’ gathering area in their outdoor design. M C Harry and Associates, Inc. designed the school with outdoor corridors to allow students to soak up sunshine on their way to and from classes.
These designs and many others make use of natural light and functionality to make school hallways more than just lost space. In addition to improving students’ moods, such designs have allowed learning to follow students from the classroom into the hallway.
Creative Commons Love: MGShelton on Flickr.com
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