Portugal has a total of 477 public secondary schools. Some date from the end of the 19th century but the majority were built after 1970, reflecting the period of expansion in the school network and the extension of compulsory schooling. The schools are heterogeneous in terms of building types, architectural features and quality. An assessment of…

In June 2004, the Scottish Executive published guidance on evaluating completed school building projects, "Building Our Future: Scotland's School Estate," as part of the School Estate Strategy; the guidance included a case study evaluation at an Edinburgh primary school. The Executive is continuing to support evaluation work on the school estate…

Construction work is about to begin on a new "intelligent" primary school for 300 students (later to be expanded for 600) in the Municipality of Solaro in the province of Milan. This is the first primary school building in Italy designed according to the principles of the "intelligent school" as defined by the Centre for…

Educational facilities became important public and specialised buildings since governments began to face the right of populations to education. Policies to provide educational buildings that respect modern notions of comfort and hygiene led architects to develop architectural concepts that corresponded to new demands on education. The need to…

In December 2005, the United Kingdom launched a process for evaluating the design quality of primary and secondary school buildings. The Design Quality Indicator (DQI) for Schools is a tool that can assist stakeholders--teachers, parents, school governors, students, community members, local authority clients and building professionals--to achieve…

Discusses the past and current organizational structure of Greece's School Building Organisation, a body established to work with government agencies in the design and construction of new buildings and the provisioning of educational equipment. Future planning to incorporate culture and creativity, sports, and laboratory learning in modern school…

Describes the planning and design of a new school for an Aboriginal community in Australia, which replaced their previously transient school services. (EV)

Brazil's Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region is conducting a performance evaluation pilot study at three schools serving disadvantaged populations. The objective is first to test methods which can facilitate Post Occupancy Evaluations (POEs) and then to carry out the evaluations. The preliminary results are provided below.

Describes two recent vocational education school construction projects in Quebec: a school of forestry and wood technology, and a steelwork training center. (EV)

Presents awardees of the Netherland's School Building Prize: those schools that have shown they can embrace new directions in school building design while adhering to budgetary limitations. Highlights general findings of the judges on school design and construct as presented by the 41 participating schools. (GR)

Provides the historical background and process towards decentralization of Mexico's Administrative Board of the Federal School Construction Programme (CAPFCE), a decentralization that transfers responsibility for educational building to Mexico's 32 states. Lists key points of the decentralization agreement and explains the new role of the CAPFCE.…

Belgium's Flemish government recently approved a EUR 1 billion investment in school infrastructure through public-private partnerships, its first major initiative of this kind. The Flemish Community's variant of public-private partnerships in school building allows the government to meet urgent needs in the short run, but also to spread the costs…

Discusses efforts by the Venezuelan government to improve the nation's school infrastructure through the Bolivarian Schools Project administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. The project set educational principles which are guiding current school building efforts. (EV)

Presents three examples of large-scale school construction and renovation projects in France where a link has been established between school design and successful teaching and learning. Further discussed are the conclusions that can be drawn from these projects in preparatory work prior to building. (GR)

Discusses how the educational reform movement in Italy demands new types of schools to accommodate new school cycles and maximize facility flexibility. Reviews ways that today's school construction approaches are attempting to meet these new requirements for the future. (GR)