Being Street Smart

Super busy and often chaotic, schools bring very specific challenges, and this was no different at Culcheth High School, particularly when it came to internal navigation. We approached the design concept as a multi-level, linear street; one that carves its way through the school and creates clear connections between a series of buildings and spaces.

Understanding that happy children learn and behave better, our strategy was to reduce stress levels through a quality environment that positively influenced behaviour. Ease of legibility and understanding was essential in such a fast-paced environment and this was achieved using bold colours and inspirational superheroes like Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Marie Curie to help drive identity and sense of place, as well as providing valuable learning touchpoints for pupils.

The result is a calmer and more grown up school environment that is simple and fun to navigate, where clash points and tensions between children have eased to such a degree that teachers were assigned to learning duties during lunch times and breaks where they would otherwise be policing the spaces. 

Creating a natural wayfinding solution to ease movement flow throughout the school led to a design that was simple and fun to navigate.

Sector | Education

Completion | 2010

Client | Warrington Borough Council

Awards | LABC Building Excellence

Copyright | Courtesey of BDP

“The time pupils spend outside of lessons can be fraught, the design solution employed helped us influence these periods by treating the environment in a way that facilitated an easier and more enjoyable journey around school for the children.”