Integrating supportive design features and technology into the home are excellent ways to plan to make a home "age-friendly." When an immediate need occurs for eliminating barriers in an existing home, supportive design features and technology will most often need to be examined, and some form of implementation will need to take place. While…

Modern design and planning are routinely confounded by endemic conditions of deep fragmentation, rampant bureaucratization, and ineffective regulation. Such barriers hamper our ability to succeed in the execution of responsive, responsible, and superb ventures. Added to the mix are cost escalation, outdated technologies, cumbersome techniques,…

Regardless of whether one's school is undergoing a major renovation or hasn't been touched since it was originally built decades ago, there are still ways to initiate change in one's school and community in a meaningful way--and that's exactly what two principals from southern Pennsylvania did. Last summer, in an effort to raise awareness for…

This article is part of a series that has offered insight on planning a facilities project, hiring professionals, delivery system options and owner's responsibilities. In this article, the author focuses on some of the planning and design concepts one may be asked to consider in providing direction to his design and construction team. These…

Since 1998, the Department of Education and Science has been using a process of design, awareness, research and technology known as DART to develop energy efficiency in educational buildings. Currently all primary schools built in accordance with the Department's primary schools technical guidance documents are capable of being up to 2.3 times…

This paper identifies five influences on design & technology education in England--the government agency, the curriculum developer, the teacher, the pupil and the researcher. Using developments in school design & technology education and examples from England the paper describes a range of activities involving one or more influences noting…

Many environmental advocates say education institutions can do a much better job of conserving resources and using energy more efficiently. Before administrators and facility managers can be convinced that better energy management is beneficial, they have to grasp what energy efficiency entails. This article discusses the benefits that schools can…

The playground is part of many students' school day, and sometimes the learning environment on the playground can be just as important as that in the classroom. Studies have shown that playtime can provide not only physical benefits, but also emotional, social and cognitive benefits to students. This article describes how to make playgrounds safe.…

Colleges and universities need to support their basic science research and education missions while simultaneously upgrading or replacing aging infrastructure, and finding ways to attract top faculty and students. To satisfy all these demands, higher-education institutions are constructing state-of-the art science facilities that are expected to…

Examines how the University of Texas at Austin designed its cable installation in order to support desktop applications not yet available on the market. (GR)

Examines the modernization of Areeda Hall faculty offices at Harvard Law School (Massachusetts) that brought a new architectural presence to the campus while eliminating the building of a circulation maze. Before and after photos are included. (GR)

Purpose: Newly designed schools for centuries have projected fresh ideals regarding how children should learn and how human settlements should be organized. But under what conditions can forward-looking architects or education reformers trump the institutionalized practices of teachers or the political-economic constraints found within urban…

This article reports that the facilities arms race in college sports has a new frontier: academic-services buildings. Over the past decade, a dozen major college programs have built stand-alone academic centers, most of them for the exclusive use of athletes. At least seven more colleges are planning new buildings or major renovations in coming…

Well-designed university buildings and physical environments have a documented positive impact on student participation, engagement, and feelings of support and belonging. These factors are known to improve learning; however, it is hard to document the direct impact architecture has on student learning outcomes. Information on how specific design…

Several US colleges, in their relentless pursuit of prestige, become obsessed with attracting students with increasingly extravagant student unions, dormitories, and other facilities. J. Douglas Toma, an associate professor at the Institute for Higher Education at the University of Georgia who is working on a book about the competition for status…