'sinks in creative spaces should be part of the main space and at different heights so that people
of all ages can use them.'
Karen Eslea
Education and Community Officer
Turner Centre, Margate
Deciding on the key factors
From our consultations with teachers, gallery and museum staff, and children, we have compiled two draft lists of key factors to take into account when designing, planning, locating, equipping, managing and using creative spaces - one for schools, and one for galleries and museums. These are detailed below.
This is work in progress. We will continue to consult on these lists in order to improve and finalise them for a second report next year, which will set out models of best practice.
We welcome comments from everyone reading this report. In addition, we plan to carry out a series of case studies of creative spaces that are currently being developed in a selection of galleries, museums and schools. This will give first-hand experience of how best to take account of the key factors for successful creative spaces.
To tell us your experiences of, and views about, creative spaces, you can e-mail us at:
cloreduffield@aol.com
Creative spaces for schools: key factors
Aesthetics
Creative spaces in schools should:
- have white or pale-coloured walls for displaying children's work
- provide plinths or surfaces for displaying 3D work
- feel minimal, clean and uncluttered
- be maintained at an appropriate temperature - not too cold or too hot
- have plenty of light (ideally north light rather than direct sun)
- have interior lighting designed to illuminate children's work on display to best effect
- provide a link with the outside world, either by low windows or doors
- make children feel that the space is theirs, and not someone else's, in the way in which work is left out and displayed
- feel different from other spaces, and engender a sense of surprise and wonder
- be relaxing and comfortable
- have windows which are cleaned regularly
Practicalities
Creative spaces in schools should:
- give children enough space not to feel confined
- be small enough for children not be daunted or intimidated, or provide nooks and crannies in which they can feel safe
- include screens to break up spaces into different areas as appropriate
- be flexible, to allow for different facets of the creative process such as discussing, researching, making, reflecting
- be designed to allow for both messy and clean creative work, e.g. photography as well as painting and plasterwork
- be designed to take account of the ergonomics of children's activity through observing children at work and how they move around and use spaces
- have computers and books available
- allow pupils to work standing up with work vertical, as well as sitting down with work horizontal
- provide pupils with spaces for quiet and privacy as well as spaces to work in groups
- provide ample storage space, with separate spaces for: materials and equipment; finished work and work in progress; and resources including junk and scrap material
- enable pupils to have their own spaces in which to store their work
- have accessible storage so that pupils can organise their own work, as well other storage that can be locked
- have tables and floor spaces that allow for large-scale work
- have acoustics that enable a babble of voices to sound muted and a single voice to be clearly heard
- be sound-proofed to enable noisy work, e.g. hammering and sawing
- have good ventilation for using materials with strong smells
'The ideal sink has high arching taps and the water doesn't burn
children or burst out too hard.'
Bridget McKenzie
Artworks Assessor
- allow for messy work and easy cleaning
- have at least three large sinks, at an appropriate height, with ample space for access around them and draining areas for wet equipment
- have water that is hot, not lukewarm
- have tables that vary in height, and can be folded or stacked away
- provide comfortable chairs for small group discussion
- enable things to be hung from the ceiling (without setting off alarms)
- have ample wall space for 2D work to be displayed and viewed from a distance
- have ample power points (16 minimum)
- provide good black-out facilities
Access
Creative spaces in schools should:
- be easily accessible, for children of all ages and physical abilities
- be a separate space, not a 'through route'
- provide a straightforward link between inside and outside, enabling work out of doors - and ideally with cover to allow work outside in all weathers
- have sufficiently large doors, and suitable access routes (corridors, corners, lifts), for large-scale art works to be brought in and out
Management
Creative spaces in schools should:
- involve children in their design
- enable teachers to exercise their own creativity in the display of work and resources and the arrangement of the room
- be looked after by one person who is responsible for upkeep and tidiness
- not be used as a dumping ground by other people
- enable children to take responsibility for organising their work and clearing away
Creative spaces for galleries and museums: key factors
The process of conceiving the new or adapted creative space
Principle
- involve artists and designers in creating and renewing the environment and in the programme to be offered there
- involve the users of the space in the design, in both practical and consultative ways
- involve colleagues in considering uses for the space and their impact on the venue as a whole
- adopt a 'visitor up' approach
- encourage thinking about future practice (a space should not simply enable improved organisation of past or existing activity)
Practical
- start by establishing the aims of the space, i.e. Why are you building/ adapting? What do you hope to achieve?
- design the space around where people want to go, based on natural 'lines of desire' and research on human behaviour in built environments
- plan for maximum flexibility in the way the space is used
- specify maximum and minimum numbers of users
- list all potential uses; consider the implications of different uses, e.g. clay work (kiln, wheel, disposal of clay); and establish priorities within these uses
- allow for changes of function, taking account of different audiences, needs and times of day, while retaining overall the core educational use
- test the space design with visitors at all stages of development - to check that requirements, priorities, etc. have been properly understood
- think about all cost implications, e.g. staffing, water, electricity, cleaning, etc.
Where the space is to be sited and approached by users
Principle
- make the space highly visible and accessible on arrival at the gallery (but also capable of being shut off, e.g. for class teaching)
- ensure that all visitors know which gallery or museum they are visiting, on arrival - i.e. communicate the identity and purpose through the designed environment
- ensure that all visitors know which space they are in within the gallery or museum
- create a warm welcome - through layout, decor, and trained, customer-focused staff
- make the space somewhere people want to be - and to which they want to return (it should not always look the same)
Practical
- ensure that the space is not to be a corridor or route to other parts of the gallery or museum (although corridors can be a thought-provoking link between related parts of an exhibition or programme)
- consider access to outdoors for natural light, inspiration and ventilation
- ensure that people can orientate themselves if they start their visit at the space, and can easily find their way back to the space from elsewhere in the gallery or museum
How to design and equip the space
Principle
- richness of environment and a good design are vital
- furniture should be suitable for a wide range of ages, sizes and physical abilities
Practical
- give priority to the usage of the space when considering design
- ensure that the decor does not restrict the flexibility of the space, especially in respect of studio spaces
- ensure that there are good acoustics and lines of sight
- ensure that there is good sound-proofing
- access to water, sink size, location and height of sinks are all crucial (be specific)
- make floors and surfaces washable and hardwearing
- establish a full range of easy-to-change lighting, from natural light to darkness
- allow for the flexible installation of computers and audio-visual equipment
- install furniture that can be readily moved and stored to create clear floor space when needed (think about who will move the furniture and how)
- build in solid, spacious and safe storage for users' belongings and separate space for materials and equipment
- install loos that are well-designed, of good quality, accessible, and easily usable by visitors of all ages, from babies to adults, frequently and in large numbers, such as school parties (more for women than men, and of different heights for children)
- ensure that the loos are regularly checked and maintained
'You have to want to use it, and use it easily without disappearing
into it or pulling your sciatic nerve.'
Jem Main
Director
The Study Gallery, Poole
How the space will be used for learning
Principle
- make practical activity the priority
- use the space as a test bed for ideas and to support visitor research
- design the space so that it can foster the full range of learning styles - formal, informal, self-directed, theoretical, practical, traditional, academic
- allow for a variety of experimental and performance activities
- create a wider range of uses and encourage visitor accessibility by, for example, installing a reference library, showing exhibitions, and putting on sessions that show teachers the potential of the space
- use the space to promote, highlight and display the gallery's or museum's education work
How the space is managed and perceived within the gallery
Principle
- give the space the same level of care, attention, resources and intellectual investment as for the rest of the gallery or museum
- do not compromise the core educational use of the space when the space is used for unrelated events or activities, e.g. events catering
- provide opportunities for feedback from users
- provide a regular news bulletin on the space (displayed in the space)
Practical
- nominate a member of staff, with an education remit, to be responsible for supervising the upkeep of the space and for being its champion
- ensure that the space has clear sight-lines and is easy to supervise
- ensure that the space is always well maintained, whatever the day of the week or time of day
- establish procedures for the space to be open in the evenings and at weekends, and outside the gallery's or museum's normal opening hours
- devise, and have on public display, a clear policy and contract for users in terms of what they can expect when using the space
- plan for redecoration or upgrading
'Ideally it should have a mechanism which prevents solids from entering
the water system'
Deirdre Buckley
Education and Outreach Manager
Compton Verney House, Warwickshire
