Educational Environments that Empower: Building for Preschool Children

Can buildings make a difference to preschool children's lives?

'Top table environment'

Since its foundation Mark Muir Architect has had the enviable experience of 'top table' involvement in the Building Schools For the Future programme which included both new build and remodelled Special Needs, Early Learning, Primary, Secondary and Post 16 facilities.......as well as considerable involvement in the Independent sector.

In such a collaborative environment we have been able to inspire and enthuse by exploring the absolute power of design and how it could make a positive contribution to the everyday lives of both learners and teachers alike. Rich in content, bright, engaging and relevant our work has fully utilised child-centric concepts such as 'Learning through Play' or using design as a significant behavioural tool.

At the heart of the design

Children's needs should always be at the heart of the design so it follows to think long term and sustainably and offer a package of integrated family services under one roof or via one entry point. Indeed our trans disciplinary approach has been recognised when, amongst others, The Nightingale Nursery in Hackney won the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Special Award for Innovation and Excellence and our founder was invited to be an exemplar designer for the government's Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative.

Don't take our word for it

"I have never really spoken professionally to an architect before; always imagined it would be a complicated business. Mark from the very beginning put me at ease. This was someone I could talk to, relate ideas that I thought were a little too inane to mention, and Mark knew where I was coming from. More importantly, he knew how to take my ideas and realise them on paper. He clearly understood my requirements, both in terms of what I expected from the project physically and ecologically but also how I wanted the building to function for me on a more subtle psychological sense."

Dr Kamal Hoque, Oadby, Leicester