ABSTRACT
The Design Matters? identifies the forms of professional development that were invoked in order that teaching professionals may learn to make best use their newly built schools. Building Schools for the Future, launched in 2004, was the government-sponsored building programme of new secondary schools in England in place in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The programme was overseen by Partnerships for Schools, a non-departmental public body formed through a collaboration between the then Department for Children, Schools and Families, Partnerships UK and private sector partners. Policy on the role of design in rebuilding the schools estate in England is at a crossroads as attempts are made to achieve good value and efficiency in times of austerity. Current architectural research on school environments tends to focus on environmental performance in terms of factors such as natural daylight, air quality, temperature and noise level.
