WITH MY TONGUE IN MY CHEEK
IN
by Professor W.C. Gregory, B. Arch., A.RI.B.A.
SCHOOL DESIGN
N the last article in this series, some thoughts were put out on the "apparent" shortage of land in Hong Kong. This month it might be well to examine the effect of this on a certain class of building--schools.
There is a tendency in Hong Kong to regard primary and secondary education as a means of acquiring and retaining sufficient factual know- ledge to enable young people to pass examinations and ultimately gain "paper" qualification for the best employment possible. Whereas the purpose of education should be primarily to teach people to think for themselves, acquire a sense of responsibility towards themselves, their families and the community in which they live. and to become citizens, both in the national and in the international sense.
A school, should therefore be re garded in the way one would regard a flower bed, in which seeds or bulbs are planted at the right time of the year in earth that has been specially prepared for them, treated with fertilizer and protected with insecticides and anti-fungal sprays. nourished with water and the sun. and where everything is done to assist the plants to grow and blos- In other words, an environ- best ment is created under the possible conditions. but the actual process of growing is left to the plant itself.
som.
It is not
necessary to apply this analogy very far to see the similarity and to see that a school must be an environment stimulating in the child a healthy intellectual growth which does not not wither away on reach ing maturity as an artificial hot- house cultivation might do.
The school architect has a very grave responsibility in helping to create this environment, but in Hong
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER
Kong he is almost prevented from achieving this from the outset, by the smallness and unsuitability of the sites given, offered or acquired for him. The standard size of a primary school site is something of the order of a 24.000 sq. ft. (less than half an acre) for a 24 classroom school and possibly double this for a secondary school. In the United Kingdom, these sites may be respec- tively 6 acres and 15 acres.
The ingenuity and quality of the design of schools in Hong Kong is of a reasonable standard considering the circumstances. but it is very doubtful if they are able to provide the environment in which a proper educational foundation to life can be laid.
The reason given for the small sites for schools is shortage of land. particularly in the urban areas. The question immediately comes to mind. why do they need to sited in the urban areas?
If there was a parochial affiliation this could be understood, but in fact. it would seem, as far as the non- government schools are concerned and these are in the majority, that there are
no such affiliations and pupils attend from far and wide, making use of the public transport system and scholars' tickets (an analysis of student movement from the ticket allocation of the local motor-bus companies would be most illuminating).
There seems no reason why schools should not be sited on the urban fringe, where more land is available, which, though still of a difficult character, would give op- portunities for the creation of a more
There suitable environment. already a tendency towards this and it is doubtful if the child's travelling is or would be increased. In most
VOLUME 16. NUMBER 2
is
cases, children would be going out of town instead of across town, the latter probably a longer journey.
As far as public transport is con- cerned they would be using it generally in the opposite direction to the flow of adults going to work at the peak hours. On many routes. children now have to take their chance with others going in the same direction. It would be well if the clients for school buildings could turn their eyes outwards when look- ing for sites.
If a hill site is the only alternative, precluding the provision of the large playing fields associated with United Kingdom schools, at least there would be a greater opportunity for the creation of a compatible environ- ment.
Another question is that of noise. If any sphere of activity requires quiet and peaceful surroundings it is teaching, and yet we find many schools in Hong Kong not only oc- cupying noisy sites. but because of the nature of the site having class- rooms located on the street bound- aries. Not only does this impose a tremendous strain on the teacher. who has to beat down, as it were, with his voice, the street noise, but also on the pupil who is trying to listen and concentrate.
areas,
Here is another reason for siting schools outside the urban which, besides allowing for larger sites so that classrooms may be bet- ter orientated both in regard to noise sources and sun elevation, takes them to a quieter general environ-
ment.
This matter of environment for education requires also to be con- sidered right down into the school design itself. Each form, each special- ised subject should give the child a (Continued on Page 70)
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