Connecting To Nature

U+A’s design manager Charl Goldblatt discusses the need for educational spaces to integrate the natural environment.

According to Charl Goldblatt, design manager at U+A, many education projects today are being designed and planned around courtyards, light wells and atriums with the aim of creating environmentally sound learning spaces.

“These design mechanisms allow for a place where learners can gather and mingle, and on cooler days, the classrooms can open up to these spaces where learning can happen ‘outside’,” Goldblatt said. “We are also seeing an increase in the use of sustainable building technologies in education design. U+A’s Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai is the first in the region to comply with the strict Minergie standards – a Swiss rating standard for low-energy consumption buildings.”