Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Six Keys to Useful Outdoor Spaces

  • 12/01/15

As outdoor learning spaces become more and more incorporated in school design, one can’t help but ask, what needs to be considered when designing them to ensure that they’re useful? The experts have several thoughts.

1. Ownership
Two pieces of creating successful outdoor learning spaces that are often ignored are: 1) engaging the maintenance staff, parents and teachers in the planning process; and 2) providing teachers with support, resources and training to know how to adequately use the space and, therefore, help the children use it.

2. Maintenance
Having a maintenance plan is extremely important and should be discussed from the beginning, because everything requires maintenance: asphalt, concrete, plant materials, etc.

3. Community
Connect the outdoor learning spaces to the community. Recruit parents who know a lot about plant materials who are willing to contribute, or the Boy Scouts, a local garden club or the Lions Club can make a contribution.

4. Shade
Provide protection from the elements. The use of shade trees can protect people from the sun and provide a covering from the rain.

5. Storage and Connection
There are going to be materials that the teachers and students will need, and they should be stored next to the area where they will be used. Outdoor learning space won’t be used if it is not located close to the building. It Is important to look at outdoor and indoor learning spaces as connected, rather than segregated.

6. Variety
A successful outdoor learning space includes a lot of different resources, like as a play area, a gathering/teaching space and free space.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • UNT Dallas Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for $100M STEM Building

    The University of North Texas at Dallas in Dallas, Texas, recently celebrated the opening of its new, $100-million STEM Building, according to local news. The ceremony on Dec. 2 preceded the first day of classes in the facility on Jan. 12, 2026.

  • Kimball International Releases Curated Design Support Program

    Commercial furnishings company Kimball International recently announced the launch of a new end-to-end design support program, DesignSuite. According to a news release, its goal is to guide architecture & design professionals and dealer partners through the process from vision to specification.

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • Full Sail University Announces First Student Housing Facility

    Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla., recently announced that development has begun on its first student housing community, according to a news release. The university is partnering with Nvision Development for construction and long-term management of the facility, which will stand five stories and have the capacity for more than 570 beds.