ABSTRACT
We have set out a system which is currently in use where the architect is a stand-alone consultant. As procurement strategies evolve it is likely that architects will become more integrated into the construction team of surveyors, engineers and landscape architects all employed by the main contractor (referred to previously as the design and build, contractural arrangement). In this situation, the point of contact for the client will be the builder’s representative rather than the architect. The architect will be expected to nurture contacts with reliable builders, and ensure that the architect’s unique talents are brought to the process, interpreting the client’s spatial needs through meaningful consultation. In this way, teams will stay together and develop their own specialism, to become expert in the design of a particular building such as a school.
Schools’ architecture is constantly evolving, a process which is barely recognized by the cumbersome funding regimes, which bring about change and modernization on a clunking 20–35-year cycle. Changes usually occur when funding is allocated on the basis of highly centralized political expediency. This is crisis management of the worst kind. Perhaps Peter Blundell Jones is right: until decentralization and distant bureaucracy is overcome, this will always be the case. The concept of LMS (Local Management of Schools) is a policy directed towards this end; however, it is in its infancy. Nevertheless, an architect committed to the well-being of a particular school can go a long way towards rectifying these anomalies. We are all custodians of our environments, whether they are private or public territories. Education in this matter begins at school. Schools’ architecture should reflect this duty in every aspect.
Private fee-paying schools within the UK invest around £5000 per pupil per year with staff ratios below 10:1. In the state sector the figure is currently in the region of £2250 per pupil with staff ratios double or triple that. It is striking that in countries such as Germany, France and Italy there is a strong grammar school system which is broad and open. In those countries, poor educational practice is attacked as an inhibitor of social mobility. As a consequence, it can be argued that more public-spirited virtues prevail. If this spirit is to spread within the UK culture, rather than simply tinkering with administrative frameworks, the government must increase investment in the state education system considerably in order to equalize the funding of the private schools.
Many believe that because the academic elite are educated apart, there is no emotional commitment to the welfare state for those who occupy the top positions in society within the UK. They would point to European systems where the strength of a twin-track secondary school system, comprising technical and grammar schools, relies on good funding for both. The end result is two systems which have equal strengths, directing students towards academic or vocational careers as appropriate. However, no matter what the system is, the notion of devolving power and control away from politicians and down towards the communities themselves is a concept which is at the forefront of current political debate. Central to this idea is the need for consultation.
(The speculative nature of this section is inevitable, as the impending changes to the system are determined. Delegation to schools from the LEAs is a political commitment. The arguments for and against, and the degree to which schools will hold real control over their budgets, encapsulate the central educational issues at the heart of our society. The outcome is keenly awaited.)
