Sensory design in schools | Primary Capital Action Conference 2009

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Oranges were given out at the Primary Capital Action 09 event to demonstrate the power of the senses. Image used courtesy of OrangeSmell via Flickr CC.

We know that children are best prepared to learn when they are active and alert. The challenge for teachers and designers is to create school environments that enhance this emotional and intellectual receptiveness. While a new building may offer the opportunity to design up-to-date learning environments, this is not always an option; the Government’s cash injection of £3bn will not help all the UK’s primary schools. So how do you transform life-expired buildings into inspiring spaces on modest budgets?

The recent Cambridge Primary Review final report has suggested that school building design should provide better facilities for specialist teaching, outdoor learning and libraries. But there are other ways of revolutionising primary school learning through building design. At this year’s Primary Capital Action event, Nightingale Associates took centre stage to explain the theory of sensory learning and introduce a potentially ground-breaking primary school experiment.

Private view | Reflecting Wales 09:09 at the Cardiff Design Festival

“Whether it’s Only Men Aloud, brass bands or Welsh slate,” chirped Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas as he officially opened the Reflecting Wales 09:09 exhibition; he was in celebration of all things Welsh – and in particular tonight – Welsh design of the built environment by nine selected designers.

Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas chats to exhibition artists.

These nine designers all have a connection to Wales, and have been selected to exhibit their work as part of the Cardiff Design Festival at the Reflecting Wales 09:09 exhibition. Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas, the Presiding Officer for the National Welsh Assembly, praised the designers for more than “throwing a few Welsh slates on” but for designing Welsh buildings that secured a sustainable future for Wales as well as considering tradition, community and democracy in their designs.

The exhibition aims to ‘highlight nine young / emerging architectural designers who exhibit the potential to make a significant impact on design standards in our homes, working environments and the quality of places – cities, towns, villages and rural areas – in the decades to come’.

“No pressure,” quipped one of the organisers – which got a laugh from the vast audience crammed into Cardiff’s Howard Gardens gallery for the private view and opening speeches.