Amid increasing global and national interest in the built educational environment, this editorial considers developments within the Nordic countries that are investigated and discussed within the articles in this special issue. We discuss commonalities and divergences in the experiences of transition and change in the schools, located in a range of times and places. We observe Nordic openness being reflected in the interest of policy-makers and architects in schools with open designs, but also note the very real challenges for school leaders, teachers and students of transitioning from traditional enclosed classrooms and teacher-centred learning to student-centred approaches in a versatile space. Yet the articles of this special issue also make clear the educational and societal reasons and values behind attempts at this transition, and we conclude our editorial by proposing some ways to address the challenges we have identified.