New guidance documents offer high quality schools and efficiency savings
13 May 2008
A series of high-quality school design guidance booklets has been officially launched by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Partnerships for Schools (PfS).
The Standard Specifications, Layouts and Dimensions (SSLD) guidance sets out the latest designs for schools - covering toilets, fire sprinkler systems, classroom partitions, floor finishes, toilets, lighting, internal stairways and internal doorsets.
The suite of documents has been developed with expert input from architects and suppliers to spread best practice across school building and refurbishment projects. It means that school building schemes can avoid costly duplication by having to draw up new design plans for each project - meaning that consistently high quality environments can be delivered, but without compromising design flair.
The SSLD documents were launched at the Building a Success of Tomorrow’s Schools event, hosted by RIBA, on Monday 12 May – to an audience of key architects, suppliers, contractors and suppliers.
Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, said: "Our aim through BSF is to revolutionise the quality of schools with cutting-edge design and energy efficient buildings. They will be safe, welcoming and inspiring environments which are used not only by students and teachers during term time, but by local residents year-round, placing schools back at the centre of their communities.
"In a programme the scale of BSF it is important that we learn from earlier projects, and share the knowledge and best practice that comes with experience. The SSLD suite of documents is one way in which we are able to do this, without stifling creativity and innovation."
This guidance will become the standard specification in the revised BSF programme documentation being prepared for the revised new BSF procurement process process, which will come into effect later this year.
Schools Minister Jim Knight said: "High-quality design is at the heart of our record capital investment in schools across the country – transforming facilities in every area, helping raise standards and ensuring every child reaches their full potential.
"Building Schools for the Future is leading the way with outstandingly designed schools – using the expertise of the best architects and designers.
"These design guidance documents are a vital way of ensuring that high quality is maintained across BSF while keeping costs down as schools will not have to reinvent the wheel with every new project. We want them to be a standard, basic tool in all school projects in future – to ensure high quality design while giving schools the flexibility to adapt designs to their own schools."
Notes to Editors
The documents currently available in the series are:
- SSLD 1: Partitions in Schools
- SSLD 2: Floor Finishes in Schools
- SSLD 3: Toilets in Schools
- SSLD 4: Lighting Systems in Schools
- SSLD 5: Roof Coverings in Schools
- SSLD 6: Internal Stairways in Schools
- SSLD 7: Internal Doorsets in Schools
- SSLD 8: Sprinklers in Schools
Copies are available to download from this website or hard copies can be ordered from the Teachernet website.
- Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew England’s state secondary schools estate during the lifetime of the programme.
- Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is the delivery agency for Building Schools for the Future. PfS was established in April 2004 as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), and is operated and funded under a joint venture between DCSF (formerly DfES) and Partnerships UK.
- There are currently 13 BSF schools open across England. For more information about BSF see: www.partnershipsforschools.org.uk
