Education

AMA provides services within the education sector at all levels, from crèche to higher education. We have carried out accommodation strategies for a number of higher education institutions: DIT, UAL, LSBU, Loughborough University, University of Salford, University of Hertfordshire and Cardiff University; we specialise in complex spaces such as arts and music schools. We have recently been involved in the refurbishment of several schools and libraries. We have written guidance on behalf of JISC, SFC and HEFCE on space management and new ways of learning, and more recently on the space requirements in colleges. We are also working with free schools - helping them to develop their design briefs and providing client design advice and support services.

 

AMA published AMA-ZED: School design from A-Z. This tool has been designed to help generate ideas about school aspirations and the way in which school buildings and grounds can help to deliver an educational vision. Pupils, teachers, governors, parents, local education officers, PFI teams and designers can all use the A-Z in defining their aspirations for their school and its community. The booklet can be used as a workshop tool to engage stakeholders in defining what is needed for educational facilities in the whole community, in just one school, or even in a single room. It also works as a creative teaching tool to elicit pupils’ desires and creative solutions for their ideal learning environments.

 

AMA's report to the Scottish Funding Council Matching post-16 investment to education outcomes was published in 2012.  This report summarises key findings within the body of research linking buildings and estates to educational outcomes, drawn from studies covering schools, colleges and universities. The report also recommends a set of key questions that Colleges and Universities should ask when developing their estate investment and maintenance plans.