Excellence in the built environment is imperative and the design process must be cost-effective and suitable. Occupant comfort, appropriate ongoing maintenance and other sustainability indicators, such as those related to energy savings and larger reservoirs collecting water from the yards, need to be the architect’s priorities.

What is essential in the design of secondary schools is an effective learning experience for students and a productive working environment for staff. Malta’s climate is mainly temperate, and the lowest temperatures during the winter months do not require the use of heating facilities. More shading devices are to be incorporated within the facade to block direct sunlight and therefore heat gains.

Design features and quality

Exterior noise is a common problem in schools located in village cores and urban areas. Not only are they located along busy traffic routes but there is often traffic congestion, particularly when school starts and when it ends. This infers that classroom acoustics will be influenced by noise.

Therefore, the design of schools may need to consider facts such as creating a buffer between schools and roads. This can be approached by dedicated space to the planning of a deep front garden, thereby involving soft landscape planning in the overall design of the school building and precincts.

The zoning of the school is also vital. Schools located near a steep road are not located in an optimal area. Cars tend to be driving on the lower gears, inducing unwanted noise. This will leave anybody at school with no other alternative than to close windows, which contradicts adequate ventilation.

Ideally, corridors would be north facing since not much light is needed, when compared with classrooms. Conversely, these must be south facing to optimise the use of light. The use of accretions such as light shelves may also assist in light optimisation in places that may otherwise be inadequately lit.

Total building performance

An important aspect of planning is thermal comfort. This issue is likely to crop up since Malta’s climate is mainly temperate and the cold spells during the winter months do not necessitate the use of heating facilities.

Schools do not need any specialised cooling mechanisms since at the beginning of summer, namely in July, August and the beginning of September, they are closed to students.

Having said this, schools can be opened up for summer school programmes, but opening the windows and having ventilation in the classrooms is enough. With the onset of climate change, however, this idea has to change.

An additional aspect of local schools that needs to be considered in terms of planning is humidity. The relative humidity in Malta rarely drops below the 50 per cent mark. This has an impact on the thermal comfort of the ambience.

In the colder seasons, high humidity gives a chilly sensation, and in the hotter months perspiration is more difficult. Again, the feel factor is hotter than the actual.

Excessive humidity is countered by ensuring that there is adequate ventilation to ascertain that thermal comfort parameters are ubiquitous in a classroom.

A characteristic feature that also needs to be considered is the shape and size of classrooms. While seating arrangements can be varied, the angle of vision may also be influenced by other factors, such as the size of furniture and appropriateness of the lighting.

A typical problem is when the sun directly shines on the classroom, not only making it hotter but also preventing students from seeing properly due to glare reflection.

Light shelves can also solve this problem. The aspect ratio of a classroom is a cardinal aspect of planning. A long, narrow classroom facing south implies that the direct sun is reflected and lights the deeper end, since the north facing wall is close to the window. A wider, squarish room implies that light is attenuated as it reaches the deeper end. Sometimes this part of the classroom needs to be artificially lit on cloudy days.

Curricular developments and planning

An important consideration of secondary school planning in Malta is the restoration of a vocational curriculum, which had disappeared from local schools with the closure of the trade schools in the 90s and early 2000s.

This implies that the design of each school will ideally be based on consultation not only with key stakeholders but also with students. While not technically considered an aspect of planning, the need to appoint a national consultative body which includes student representatives may also result in an ongoing review of plans to different stakeholder perspectives.

Any transition to any other positioning of students needs to be planned, and this implies that designs must be as flexible as possible. Flexibility is at the crux of effective school planning since the way a building is planned may also serve as a means to optimise student voice if students feel comfortable at school and like their school building.

Eric Formosa is an architect following postgraduate studies at DeMonfort University, Leicester.