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Disaster Planning: School Buildings

• A taped off section inside a primary school in Leicester - Photo credit: Jacob King

This article develops a theme established by Cedric Price, namely:—

"that the buildings and fittings normally associated with the provision of educational facilities are not good enough, and that it is no longer a question of improvement but of re-think."
(Price, 1968, Learning, AD 5/68)

[edit] INTRODUCTION

This is the third in a series of articles by Norman Fellows about Disaster Planning.

The first, entitled 'Disaster Planning', has been made even more prescient by the recent earthquake in Morocco and the landslides in Himachal Pradesh, India. [1]

The second, entitled 'Disaster Planning: North Staffs', focusses on buildings in a former coalfield. [2]

This third article recognises another set of potential disasters, namely:—

'school buildings'. [3]

It is based on the observation:—

... that successive Governments have failed to recognise school buildings as a set of potential disasters.

In contrast, there is a view:—

... that only when school buildings are recognised as a set of potential disasters will the necessary legislation and management enable disaster planning to afford sufficient anticipatory design effort and product.
(after Cedric Price, AD 10/70).

Thus this article is based on two premises, namely:—

... that there is a dominant narrative;
... that there is a counter narrative.

Its purpose is:—

to advocate a re-think on school buildings.

[edit] A DOMINANT NARRATIVE

"Dominant narrative can be used to describe the lens in which history is told by the perspective of the dominant culture. This term has been described as an "invisible hand" that guides reality and perceived reality. [...] It is a common theme to hear or learn only about the dominant narrative as it comprises the perspective of the majority culture."
(Unattributed, Wikipedia).

Learn More

A dominant narrative about school buildings can be found in countries all over the world. For example, in England:—

[edit] • 1957

According to the Minister of Education:—

"This pamphlet tells the story of post-war school building in England and Wales under successive Governments. [...] It will serve, first, as a tribute to the people directly concerned with the events described - education officers in local authorities, architects and quantity surveyors in both local government service and private practice, teachers, manufacturers, suppliers and contractors in the building industry. Working with advice and guidance from the Architects and Building Branch of the Ministry of Education they have formed an efficient and enthusiastic team. "
(Sir David Eccles, 1957). [4]

The complete document is shown in this single web page. You can scroll through it or use the following links to go to the various sections.

Introduction (page 1)
I The size and nature of the problem (6)
II Changes in the educational background (10)
III Tackling the problem (17)
IV The contribution of design (32)
V The attack on costs (49)
VI Value for money (59)
Appendices (65)

Fig.1: 'The story of post-war school building' [title page]

Fig. 2: Primary Schools

See pp.36-37 (ib.)

Fig. 3: Secondary Schools

See pp.43-44 (ib.)

[edit] • 1957 to late 1970s

According to Wikipedia:—

"The Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme (CLASP) was formed in England in 1957 to combine the resources of Local Authorities with the purpose of developing a prefabricated school building programme.
[...]
Mid century built CLASP buildings are coming to the end of their designed operational life. However many projects have been carried out over the years to CLASP buildings to modernise the buildings fabric and increase energy efficiencies."
(Unattributed, 2023). [5]

Fig. 4: Aerial view of Primary School, Armthorpe (designed by Norman Fellows in 1973) showing original school with non-CLASP elements added later.

[edit] • 1968

At Cambridge, England, 26-29 June 1968, the RIBA held its Annual Conference on the subject 'Building for Education : Looking forward'. [6]

nb For further information email library@riba.org

According to the RIBA Library Group:—

"There are a number of references to journal articles about the conference on our catalogue:
Building for education: RIBA annual conference 1968, Cambridge in RIBA Journal, 1968 Aug., p. 349-380.
But also in:
Architects Journal, ‘Education in a changing word’ by Sheila Wheeler, 26 June 1968, pp.1453-1495
Architects Journal, ‘Building for Education: RIBA Conference looks into the future”, 3 July 1968, p. 8-16.
Architect & Building News, 1968 July 3, p. 9-13. – this is summaries of the conference papers."
(Cathy Wilson, RIBA Library, 22 September, 2023)

[edit] • 1983

According to Wikipedia:—

"The National Audit Office (NAO) is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The NAO also carries out value for money (VFM) audits into the administration of public policy."
(Unattiributed, 2023)

Learn More

However, the NAO delivers its reports to the chair of the House of Commons' public accounts committee (PAC) who may or may not act upon them. Thus the independence of the NAO may be questioned.

David Walker, for example, has argued:—

"that the NAO does not and cannot examine major strategic issues such as the underlying principles of the Private Finance Initiative."
(ib.)

Public accounts committee (PAC)

According to Wikipedia:—

"The Committee of Public Accounts is a select committee of the British House of Commons. It is responsible for overseeing government expenditures, and to ensure they are effective and honest. The committee is seen as a crucial mechanism for ensuring transparency and accountability in government financial operations, having been described by Professor the Lord Hennessy as "the queen of the select committees...[which] by its very existence exert[s] a cleansing effect in all government departments".
(Unattributed, 2023)

Learn More

Chairs (1861-present)

[edit] • 2000-2010

Building Schools for the Future was debated in the UK Parliament on Tuesday 9 March 2004.

According to Wikipedia:—

"Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. Around half of the work was procured under the private finance initiative. The delivery of the programme was overseen by Partnerships for Schools (PfS), a non-departmental public body formed through a joint venture between the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), Partnerships UK and private sector partners. The programme was cancelled in 2010."
(Unattributed, 2023)

Learn More

According to the National Audit Office:—

"The estimated initial design life for school buildings is 60-80 years for non-system-built school buildings, and 30-40 years for system-built blocks."
(NAO, 28 June 2023).

Fig. 5: Report by the National Audit Office.

Learn More

According to a comment by itv about the NAO report:—

"Around 24,000 school buildings, or 38% of the total, are currently beyond their estimated design life span."
(Unattributed, 2023) [7]

[edit] • 2014-2021

According to Wikipedia:—

"The Priority School Building Programme was a United Kingdom government scheme launched in 2014 to address the capital investment needs of schools most in need of urgent repair.

The £4.4 billion programme was designed to rebuild and refurbish school buildings in the worst condition across the country. It was a replacement for the Building Schools for the Future programme, which had been set up in 2003 to cover the period 2005–2020[2] but was cancelled in 2010."
(Unattributed, 2023)

Learn More

According to Richard Adams:—

"Gove decided to axe the Blair government’s £55bn school rebuilding plan."
(Adams, 2021).

Fig. 6: Screenshot of webpage.

Learn More

[edit] • 2023 The so-called "crisis"

An analysis of 19 articles about school buildings published before 30 August 2023 shows that only the article by Crawford mentioned a potential disaster. [3]

An analysis of 42 articles about school buildings published on or after 30 August 2023 shows that 19 used the term "crisis" and only the article by Labour Research mentioned a potential disaster.

The second analysis also shows that the Government has avoided the use of the term "crisis" and "disaster" in framing the narrative.

Learn More

Fig. 7: Screenshot showing scene from PMQs. [8]

• Table 1: Chronological development of the dominant narrative about school buildings.

The evidence presented in Table 1 indicates a gradual shift in the dominant narrative about school buildings from a belief in their appropriateness as both physical and social institutions to a recognition that school buildings are not good enough. However, this recognition is confined to finding faults with particular physical elements - e.g. RAAC roofs - not with the design and construction of school buildings as a whole. Nor does it address the question of whether or not school buildings are an appropriate way of housing education in the 21st century - i.e. a re-think.

Thus this article finds:—

... that the Government controls the dominant narrative about school buildings;
... that the dominant narrative evidenced in Table 1 excludes counter narratives;
... that neither the Government nor the authors of the articles recognise school buildings as a set of potential disasters.

In other words, according to its official narrative:—

THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT RECOGNISE SCHOOL BUILDINGS AS A SET OF POTENTIAL DISASTERS.

However, given the current state of the School Estate and the condition of school buildings, this article argues:—

... that a counter narrative is urgently required.

[edit] A COUNTER NARRATIVE

"a narrative that goes against another narrative."
(Unattributed, Wordnik).

A counter narrative which goes against the dominant narrative about school buildings evidenced in Table 1 was introduced by Cedric Price in May 1968. For example:—

[edit] • 1968

In May 1968 Architectural Design became simply AD.

"...it was the May 1968 issue, guest-edited by Cedric Price and called "What about Learning?" that marked the beginning of a new era."
(Stephen Parnell, 2011).

• Fig. 8: Facsimile of Contents page

• Fig. 9: "What about Learning?" - Cover by Dave Chaston, photograph by Mike Newton.

Learn More

• Fig. 10: Introduction from AD 5/68

The text of the introduction by Cedric Price can be read in Full resolution.

• Fig. 11: Conclusion from AD 5/68

The text of Cedric Price's conclusion can also be read in Full resolution.

"The adoption of programming principles together with modern technology provides the basis for a remarkable extension of education into the home, the factory, the office nd the shopping centre."

(Tirrell and Canfield)

• Fig. 12: p223 AD 5/68

• Fig. 13: p224 AD 5/68

• Fig. 14: p225 AD 5/68

• Fig. 15: Atom spread, pp.232-234 AD 5/68, 2015

Cedric Price's Atom project can be read in Full resolution here...

• Fig. 16: Atom spread, pp.235-236 AD 5/68

...and here.

• Fig. 17: Cedric Price, Atom: Graph of use cycle and life span.

According to Kathy Velikov:—

"As he did for the Potteries Thinkbelt, Price developed for Atom a life span and use cycle chart for all of the components that comprised the scheme, mapping out a spatiotemporal choreography for the design."
(Velikov, 2015) [9]

In contrast, the National Audit Office found:—

... that "The estimated initial design life for school buildings is 60-80 years for non-system-built school buildings, and 30-40 years for system-built blocks."
... that "Around 24,000 school buildings, or 38% of the total, are currently beyond their estimated design life span."
(NAO - see Note 7).

Thus this counter narrative argues:

... that the life span of each building element must be calculated and not exceeded.

[edit] • 2015 to present

• Fig. 18: Edukit spread, 2015+

"Edukit is one of two possible contributions to the commons being studied in the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford region for governance not by state or market but by the community."
(Norman Fellows) [10]

The second contribution takes the May 1968 issue of AD as a starting point (see 2018 below).

Thus this counter narrative argues:—

... that the buildings and fittings normally associated with the provision of educational facilities are social goods belonging to the commons. [11]

[edit] • 2018 to present

This counter narrative was introduced Cedric Price in May 1968.

This article took the view:—

... that only when school buildings are recognised as a set of potential disasters will the necessary legislation and management enable disaster planning to afford sufficient anticipatory design effort and product.
(after Cedric Price, AD 10/70).

However:—

school buildings are not officially recognised as a set of potential disasters.

Thus a reiteration is required. The original AD, guest edited by Cedric Price, was headed:—

"To all who attend, we dedicate this issue of AD"

That sounds like a good place to start.

• Fig. 18: "What about Learning More?" - Montage by Norman Fellows.

• Table 2: Chronological development of a counter narrative about school buildings.

The evidence presented in Table 2 develops the counter narrative introduced by Cedric Price in May 1968 from its original position to a new one.

Thus this article finds:—

... that a counter narrative is possible;
... that the counter narrative evidenced in Table 2 poses a challenge to the dominant narrative about school buildings;
... that it is no longer a question of improvement but of re-think.

However, it is incomplete:—

THE LEGISLATION AND MANAGEMENT DEEMED NECESSARY TO ENABLE DISASTER PLANNING TO AFFORD SUFFICIENT ANTICIPATORY DESIGN EFFORT AND PRODUCT ARE MISSING.

[edit] CONCLUSION

Firstly, this article affirms its two premises. It also shows:—

... that both the Government and the authors of the articles realise that school buildings are not good enough;
... that neither of them understand that it is no longer a question of improvement but of re-think.

Thus this article concludes:—

... that the counter narrative introduced by Cedric Price advocates a re-think about school buildings;
... that it is incomplete;
... that it requires a reiteration.

What next? Perhaps a dedicated website?

[edit] Notes

[1] Fellows, N. (2022) 'Disaster Planning', Designing Buildings.

[2] Fellows, N. (2022) 'Disaster Planning: North Staffs', Designing Buildings.

[3] Crawford, A. (2023) 'School buildings on the brink – A disaster waiting to happen', socialist.net, Tuesday 1 August and Labour Research (2023) 'School buildings 'a disaster waiting to happen'', Labour Research Department, Monday September 4 have both described school buildings as "a disaster waiting to happen".

[4] Ministry of Education (1957) 'The story of post-war school building (1957)', HMSO.

[5] Unattributed (2023) 'Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme', Wikipedia.

[6] Awaiting further information from the RIBA Library department.

[7] Unattributed (2023) 'Warning Raac schools crisis could be 'tip of the iceberg' amid calls for national risk register', itvNEWS.

[8] Unattributed (2023) 'British MPs debate a crisis over school buildings. Childishly', The Economist, Wednesday, 6

September.

[9] Velikov, K. (2015) 'Tuning Up the City - Cedric Price's Detroit Think Grid', ResearchGate.

[10] Fellows, N. (2015) ''THE FULLER CHALLENGE: My First Submission' by Norman Fellows', in 'Beyond Supercrit #1: CP: PTb' on Blogger.

[11] Fellows, N. (2017) 'What are social goods? What is the commons?', Extremely Provocative on Wordpress.com.

[edit] External references

[edit] • Articles published before 30 August 2023

Ministry of Education (1957) 'The story of post-war school building (1957)', HMSO.

Currie, R. J. and Matthews, S. L. (1996) 'Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete planks designed before 1980', Information Paper 10/96, Building Research Establishment.

Walker, D. (2002) 'Summed up', The Guardian, Friday, 20 July, 18:07 BST.

UK Parliament (2004) '"Building Schools For The Future"', Hansard, Volume 418: debated on Tuesday 9 March.

Richardson, H. (2010) 'School buildings scheme scrapped', BBC, Monday, 8 July.

Mahony, P., Hextall, I. and Richardson, M. (2011) '‘Building Schools for the Future’: reflections on a new social architecture', Journal of Education Policy Volume 26, 2011 - Issue 3.

Mahony, P., and Hextall, I. (2013) ''Building Schools for the Future': 'Transformation' for social justice or expensive blunder?', British Educational Research Journal 39 (5), Research Gate.

Design and Build (c2018) 'The state of the school estate', Education Business.

Roberts, J. (2018) 'Exclusive: 70% of school buildings ‘not fit for purpose’, Tes.

Nickalls, A. (2018) 'Singlewell Primary School, Gravesend, closed tomorrow after ceiling collapse', KentOnline, Sunday, 8 July, 12:47 GMT.

Adams, R. (2021) 'Repair bill for schools in England doubles to over £11bn, finds survey', The Guardian, Thursday, 27 May, 20:05 BST.

Adams, R. (2021) 'England’s £11bn school repair bill goes back to Michael Gove cuts', The Guardian, Thursday, 27 May, 20:15 BST.

Savage, M. (2022) 'Headteachers fight for funds to shore up England’s dilapidated classrooms', The Observer, Sunday, 14 May, 20:00 BST.

Loughborough University (2023) 'Expert explainer: What is Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and why are people concerned about it?', lboro.com, 7 March.

Hewitt, D. (2023) 'Children at risk in schools where concrete could collapse 'with no warning', itvX, Thursday, 16 March 19:02 GMT.

UK Parliament (2023) 'School Buildings: Safety', Hansard, Volume 831: debated on Tuesday 20 June.

Standley, N. and Evans, A. (2023) 'Estimated 700,000 pupils in unsafe or ageing schools in England, says watchdog', BBC, Wednesday, 28 June.

Unattributed (2023) 'Deteriorating school buildings across UK pose 'critical' risk to pupils, watchdog says', itvx, Wednesday, 28 June 2023 22:41 BTS.

Crawford, A. (2023) 'School buildings on the brink – A disaster waiting to happen', socialist.net, Tuesday 1 August.

[edit] • Articles published from 30 August 2023 onwards

KEY ► Articles which used the term "crisis".

Adams, R. (2023) 'Schools in England told to be ready to evacuate buildings at risk of collapse', The Guardian, Thursday, 30 August, 13:18 BST.

Unattributed (2023) 'Pupils face schools turmoil over government’s inaction on building safety, says UNISON', Unison, Thursday, 31 August.

Norden, J. (2023) 'More than 100 schools advised to close buildings due to concrete risk', TES, Thursday, 31 August, 14:27 BST.

Booth, R. (2023) 'Crumble-risk concrete is latest upheaval to hit England’s schools', The Guardian, Thursday, 31 August, 18:45 BST.

Booth, R., Walker, P. and Adams, R. (2023) 'English schools told to close buildings made with crumble-risk concrete', The Guardian, Thursday, 31 August, 15:23 BST.

Booth, R., Walker, P. and Adams, R. (2023) 'Thousands of pupils may have to start term online as over 100 schools affected by crumble-risk concrete', The Guardian, Thursday, 31 August, 19:02 BST.

Worth, D. (2023) 'RAAC and school collapse risks: DfE guidance', TES, Thursday, 31 August, 17:28 BST.

►Smith, C. (2023) 'RAAC – What the concrete crisis tells us about politicians’ priorities', teachwire.net, exact date unknown.

►Unattributed (2023) 'School concrete crisis: Your questions answered', BBC, Friday, 1 September.

►Lowe, T., Gayne, D. and Lane, T (2023) 'The RAAC schools crisis: what we know so far', Building, Friday, 1 September.

Butler, A. (2023) 'The RAAC concrete ‘ticking time bomb’ that schools were warned about years ago', The Independent, Saturday, 2 September, 11:18 BST.

Syal, R., Quinn, B. and Adams, R. (2023) 'Jeremy Hunt under fire after Treasury says no new cash to fix Raac in schools', The Guardian, Sunday, 3 September, 19:37 BST.

►Unattributed (2023) 'Schools concrete crisis: We are taking deliberately cautious approach, says Gillian Keegan', The Telegraph, Monday, 4 September, 19.03 BST.

Labour Research (2023) 'School buildings 'a disaster waiting to happen'', Labour Research Department, Monday September 4.

PA Media (2023) 'Which schools in England and Wales are affected by Raac concrete?', The Guardian, Monday, 4 September, 14:42 BST.

Walker, P. (2023) 'Sunak refused to fully fund repairs of England’s crumbling schools, says ex-official', The Guardian, Monday, 4 September, 16:45 BST.

►Booth, R. (2023) 'Raac crisis: who knew what and when about crumbling concrete in England', The Guardian, Monday, 4 September, 11:49 BST.

Wickham, A (2023) 'Sunak Blocked Bid to Fix Crumbling UK Schools, Minister Says', Bloomberg, Tuesday, September 5, 09:52 GMT+2.

The Washington Post (2023) 'Schools in England could collapse due to weak concrete: What to know', Tuesday, 5 September, 10:03 EDT.

►Tetzlaff-Deas, B. (2023) 'RAAC concrete crisis: The full timeline of how the disaster made our schools unsafe', Mirror, Tuesday, 5 September, 13:27, GMT.

►Robinson, M. (2023) 'School concrete crisis deepens as primary warns disruption could last until 2025 and parents across the UK are told buildings will remain shut until further notice and children must stay home - just HOURS before the start of term', Daily Mail, Tuesday, 5 September, 16:39 BST.

►Porter, A. (2023) 'RAAC scandal: Companies accused of taking advantage of concrete crisis in schools and raising prices', sky news, Tuesday, 5 September, 19:55, GMT.

Walker, P. and Allegretti, A. (2023) 'More than half of dilapidated English schools were refused rebuilding money', The Guardian, Tuesday, 5 September, 20:32 BST.

►Booth, R. (2023) 'Price of fixing school concrete crisis in England ‘approaching £150m’', The Guardian, Wednesday, 6 September, 05:00 BST.

Reuben, A. and Cuffe, R. (2023) 'RAAC: How long have we known about unsafe concrete in schools?', BBC, Wednesday, 6 September.

►Robinson, J. (2023) 'RAAC crisis: Return of pandemic-style home learning for unsafe concrete schools should last 'days, not weeks'', sky news, Wednesday, 6 September, 10:13, GMT.

Finnis, A. (2023) 'Why was RAAC used? When schools were first built from aerated concrete and how many are affected', inews, 6 September 6, 12:34 GMT.

►Manning, E. and McGuinness, R. (2023) 'Revealed: Full list of schools affected by concrete crisis – and which ones have been closed', yahoo!news, Wednesday, 6 September, 13:26 GMT.

Rolph, C. (2023) 'Raac in UK schools: how poor funding and missing data led to closures', The Conversation, Wednesday, 6 September, 14:07 CEST.

Goodier, C. (2023) 'The good news? Raac isn’t always dangerous. The bad news: it’s not just in schools', The Guardian, Wednesday, 6 September, 15:29 BST.

►Unattributed (2023) 'British MPs debate a crisis over school buildings. Childishly', The Economist, Wednesday, 6 September.

Duncan, P. and Garcia, A.C. (2023) 'Schools in England affected by Raac: the full government list', The Guardian, Wednesday, 6 September, 15:52 BST.

►Garcia, A.C., Duncan P., Quinn, B. and Carrell, S. (2023)) 'Three-quarters of schools hit by concrete crisis are in Tory areas', The Guardian, Wednesday, 6 September, 18:07 BST.

►Nevett, J. (2023) 'RAAC crisis: Sunak defends school record after cowboy-builder jibe', BBC Politics, Wednesday, 6 September.

Unatttributed (2023) 'RAAC - RIBA's response', RIBA Architecture.com, 7 September.

►Hirons, P. (2023) 'RAAC concrete schools crisis: nine questions architects need answers to', RIBA Architecture.com, 7 September.

►Unattributed (2023) 'Warning Raac schools crisis could be 'tip of the iceberg' amid calls for national risk register', itvNEWS, Thursday 7 September 2023 at 16:15, GMT.

►Sagaseta, J. (2023) 'School concrete crisis: How Raac has been used well beyond its expiry date', The Conversation, Thursday, 7 September, 17:18 CEST.

►Sagaseta, J. (2023) 'School concrete crisis: How Raac has been used well beyond its expiry date', Techxplore, Friday.

Fazackerley, A. (2023) 'UK government did not carry out detailed surveys before it bought free schools sites', The Observer, Sunday, 10 September, 07:00 BST.

Mitchell, D. (2023) 'What, a school revamp once every 440 years isn’t enough?', The Guardian, Sunday, 10 September, 10.00 BST.

►O'Donoghue, S. (2023) 'UK concrete crisis: What is RAAC and what can be done to prevent catastophe?', euronews, Monday, 11 September, 09:00 CET.