Irish School Design

The primary school in Ranelagh, designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey won a major RIAI award last year. Im sure youll find a fair amount about it here and on the wider web if you look. Hope this helps + welcome to the site 🙂

PS –

@curly wrote:

Are their experts who argue the benefits of a fit for use environment …?

Yeah – theyre called architects 😀

the Department have a generic design for a 16 classroom primary school now which they seem to just plant on whatever site becomes available. For example, recent ones in the planning process at Adamstown, Ongar and Littlepace all look the exact same. It makes sense from an economic and time point of view but as for schools forming part of the community and for communities, in turn, to have their own identities it’s rubbish. architecture seems to have no place in designing the most fundamental element in the socialisation of children. They’re all surrounded by car parking too by the way, which in some cases physically obstruct kids who cycle and walk… amazing!!!

but i guess we probably should be grateful they’re building proper schools at all. The amount of planning applications for prefabs all over the Dublin Region, even now after a decade of boom, would make you wonder what exactly they’ve been at…

a lot of the primary schools u see around the country from the 50’s and 60’s have a similar design which is still fairly pleasing I find. The school I went to was such a school with fine big sash windows unfortunately replaced with PVC recently, ah well!

So i don’t think the idea of having schools built to a pattern is a bad thing and it’s understandable from a cost point of view. Of course if the basic design is rubbish then that’s different!