NLA Expert Panel on Education

Thursday 04 February 2021

Ben Marston

Director
Jestico + Whiles

Lalage Clay

Director, Education and Talent
London & Partners

Darren Connolly

Technical Director
WSP

Ann Dalzell

Building Services Engineer
Arup

Marta Galinanes Garcia

Co-Director
AKT II

Bruce Glockling

Regeneration and Education Capital Development Specialist
.

Ian Goodfellow

Principal (and Director of Architecture)
Penoyre & Prasad

Douglas Inglis

Director
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

Jessica Mailey

Architect Associate
BDP

Angela Mitten

Director, Estates & Campus Operations
Royal College of Art

Rachel Moulton

Senior Architect
HKS Architects

Mat Oakley

Head of Commercial Research
Savills

Alan Ollier-Thompson

Head of Skills
London Borough of Waltham Forest

Judy Raper

Dean and CEO
TEDI-London

Katherine Watts

Associate
John McAslan + Partners

Crawford Wright

Head of Architecture and Design
Department for Education

St John’s Primary School, Conran © Wind&Foster

Monday was the first meeting of the NLA’s Education Expert Panel. Education provision across the capital extends from early years through to universities and adult education. All face a number of differing challenges, which have been exacerbated, and in some cases turned on their head, by the pandemic. As a panel, there was much to discuss, so we covered a lot of ground.

We began with the very immediate impact of Covid and how some institutions and authorities are dealing with it. We learned that the rapid depopulation of London, which began with Brexit and accelerated with Covid (it is reported that 700,000 foreign-born workers, 8 per cent of the population of London, have left for good), has resulted suddenly in surplus school places across many boroughs. This rapid change has left authorities with underused assets, looking unexpectedly at the prospect of closing schools.

In universities, student numbers have been bearing up, but it is harder to predict what will happen this coming autumn. Students both nationally and internationally may choose not to travel and to study closer to home. There are also concerns across the sector about the reduction in ancillary income from the use of facilities.

We talked about the Covid-accelerated adoption of technology. Whilst remote-learning has worked well in many instances, it has significant challenges: particularly in schools where children may be sharing devices in households and it is difficult to know how well youngsters are really learning; or in Further Education and Higher Education how practical subjects are actually accessed, when remote learning is not an option. We heard first-hand how the RCA have are managed to operate a Covid-free environment across their sites throughout the pandemic, and how spatial and layout changes are moving beyond temporary measures into more sustained arrangements. We discussed how remote learning also eliminates the 'bump factor', the serendipitous encounters that enrich the learning experience through interaction with others. Teaching was described ultimately as a ‘contact sport’.

We turned our attention to the post-pandemic education landscape and what changes we might anticipate. Clearly a lot is in flux and the outcomes uncertain. We discussed the rationalisation of estates, with some institutions in London looking to downsize, and others potentially capitalising on opportunities to acquire better, more suitable, space. There will be a focus on the types of space required, the size of spaces, and their purpose. Several panellists questioned whether hundreds of students assembling in lecture theatres would become a thing of the past. We heard about the new modular engineering school, TEDI-London, being built at Canada Water, which eschews traditional educational models with an open plan, communal, collaborative learning offer.

There was a lot of discussion about adult education. As the economy evolves, there is ongoing pressure for reskilling, upskilling, and addressing skills mismatches. In that context, we also touched on the recently published Further Education White Paper and its plans for reskilling and training as we emerge from the pandemic. The apprenticeship levy is underutilised, and adult training days have reduced over the last twenty years. It was noted that in adult education, the poorest quality education offer is often in the poorest areas. Whilst on the one hand we discuss rationalisation and surplus space, on the other there remain pressing educational needs. If there is surplus capacity emerging, then perhaps this is where it should be focussed.

Addressing the climate crisis always seems particularly pertinent when discussing facilities to educate the next generation and we spent some time on this issue. Regulation is essential to make change happen, but how do we ensure policy makes education spaces better? It was noted that from November 2021, all new schools will be designed to be zero carbon, but it was also noted that 80 per cent of buildings we will be using in 2050 already exist. Big questions of how we address the challenge of retrofit in education buildings, how we identify what low cost interventions can make the biggest impact, and how they can be achieved in live environments all persist. It was mooted whether a moratorium on new construction should be considered. We also discussed whether it might be better to build lightweight temporary buildings to accommodate immediate needs and then dismantle them, or build heavyweight buildings which can be adapted to suit evolving needs.

My thanks to all the panel members for their contributions. It was an excellent first session. There are clearly a lot of big issues facing the sector: post-pandemic learning environments - what spaces are required for optimum teaching and learning and how will they be used; the re-use of surplus assets in support of educational need and particularly the need to reskill; future-proofing through flexibility and adaptability; the impact of technology on learning spaces, institutions and communities; and campus decarbonisation and the circular economy. We will look to address these issues in future meetings.

Ben Marston

Jestico + Whiles

Chair – NLA Expert Panel on Education

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