Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Schools In Focus: COVID-19 and the Impact on School Design

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 05/11/20

Schools In Focus is a Spaces4Learning podcast dedicated to K-12 school design, planning, and management. Each episode will feature a conversation with industry experts, facility managers, architects, and thought leaders on topics related to school facilities. Catch up on previous episodes here.

Today's episode is about the coronavirus' impact on school design and ways schools can safely reopen.

Schools In Focus, Episode 4: COVID-19 and the Impact on School Design

Schools In Focus podcast logo. Robin Randall (R) and Sylvia Kowalk (L).

With the 2019-2020 school year winding down to a close, school leaders look ahead to the fall as they figure out the best way to safely reopen schools. From classroom layouts to staggered scheduling to transportation and food service, there’s much to consider, especially when it comes to the health and safety of students and staff. Here at Spaces4Learning, we’re particularly interested in how COVID-19 will impact school design.

I spoke with two designers, Sylvia Kowalk and Robin Randall from Legat Architects, who are imagining new ways learning environments can accommodate students during this pandemic. We discussed design options currently available to schools that can help with social distancing in facilities, what we can learn from other countries who have already reopened, and the long-term impacts of COVID-19 to educational environments.

This episode was brought to you by School Specialty.

School Specialty is a leading provider of educational solutions from crayons to curriculum to complete learning environments. Today, as schools prepare to re-open, they are committed to providing the products and expert guidance needed to ensure schools can become and remain safe spaces when students return. And every day after. School Specialty. Transforming more than classrooms.

Where to Listen

Schools In Focus is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher. Subscribe today, or listen below!

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • University of Mary Washington Selects Builder for New Theater, Dance Facility

    The University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., recently announced that it has selected construction and development firm Skanska to lead a series of renovations and upgrades to fine arts facilities, according to a news release.

  • California District Opens New Robotics Center

    The Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD) in Cupertino, Calif., recently held a Grand Opening ceremony for a new, district-wide Robotics Center, according to a news release. The 14,500-square-foot facility was designed by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA); Landmark Constructors served as the builder and Blach Construction as general construction manager.

  • UPenn Announces Completion of New Veterinary Education Facility

    The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Penn., recently finished construction on an 11,800-square-foot veterinary education building, according to a news release. The Gail P. Riepe Center for Advanced Veterinary Education is the first dedicated classroom facility at the New Bolton Center, a large-animal hospital and campus about 35 miles west of the campus proper.

  • Minnesota District Opens New PreK–12 School

    Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Schools in Gibbon, Minn., recently announced that construction is complete on a new, $68.9-million school for students in grades PreK–12, according to a news release.