School districts seeking an architect should know what they want, open up the selection process, decide on the importance of prior school-design experience, require a screening procedure with a standardized questionnaire, meet the project manager, make site visits, and probe deeply before signing contracts. (MLH)

This booklet offers suggestions to those involved in planning school construction efforts, in order to help them better understand the process of designing and building such facilities, particularly with regard to the role of the architect. The text defines what good architecture is and what it should accomplish. It considers the services needed,…

Guidelines are offered for the building or adapting of space to create ideal dance facilities, and for equipping and maintaining the facility. (JD)

Offers suggestions for facilities managers to alleviate dissatisfaction with architects during school building or renovation projects. Areas discussed include budgets, communication, program development, scheduling, firm hiring, resource allocating, fees payment, and increasing the scope of the projects. (RE)

Trends in postcompulsory education are examined and strategies are suggested for effective provision of buildings and equipment in this summary of a symposium organized by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Programme on Educational Building and the Ministry of Education, Finland. Although participating countries'…

Developed primarily from field based research on 19 schools, the book is designed to help facility planners, educational administrators, educators, architects, and citizens make informed choices in planning new or renovated facilities for special education services. The design guidelines are performance based so that intended outcome is given as…

This guide provides guidelines for meeting the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act in college and university buildings. The publication is divided into 10 chapters, the first 7 of which present construction drawings, evaluation criteria, and specifications for: (1) site accessibility (external path of travel,…

This document is a report of a U.S. team visit to France in 1977 to observe and study French educational facility design, construction, and utilization. The report is written by the individual team members and deals with elements of the educational program, particularly as it related to the building program. Some of the topics include educational…

The National School Boards Association's Council of Attorneys has designed this monograph to assist school attorneys and administrators involved in school construction projects to know how to select a qualified architect, understand the relationship between an architect and school district, and prepare to negotiate a contract with an architect.…

This booklet is designed to facilitate open, clear communication between educational facility planners and the architects hired to oversee building design and construction. It provides a list of architectural, electrical, plumbing, and topographical symbols; a glossary of architectural terms; and a list of public agencies and relevant codes and…

Examines general principles in designing child care centers and preschools: (1) design the site and building so that it has a friendly, child-like, inviting image; and (2) design child development environments to be child scaled, including furnishings, materials, the building, and the site as a whole. Contains criteria and suggestions for…

To help plan for the building or renovating of a media center, this paper presents a list of questions that the steering committee and the architect or project leader needs to answer. It opens with some general rules for planning, such as using a steering committee composed of stakeholders, involving the architect as soon as possible, not…

The U.S. Department of Energy's Rebuild America EnergySmart Schools program provides school boards, administrators, and design staff with guidance to help make informed decisions about energy and environmental issues important to school systems and communities. This document is part of the suite of products developed to promoteenergy efficiency…

Volume II of a 3-volume report demonstrates the use of Design Determinants and Options (presented in Volume I) in the planning and design of small rural Alaskan secondary schools. Section I, a checklist for gathering site-specific information to be used as a data base for facility design, is organized in the same format as Volume I, which can be…

The U.S. Department of Energy's EnergySmart Schools provides school boards, administrators, and design staff with guidance to help them make informed decisions about energy and environmental issues important to school systems and communities. The design guidelines presented in this document outline high performance principles for the new or…