School Designs
Ideas Brought to Life
Doronko Hoikuen: A Natural Approach to Early Childhood Education in Japan
Since a 2022 policy reform in Japan, Doronko Kai has combined licensed nursery care and child-development support under one roof — its Tokyo flagship opened in April 2024.
Spark Bali School: Micro-Schooling in Action
A 30-student micro-school in Bali pairs the Cambridge curriculum with an unconventional facility: a skate park built as a learning tool for teenagers with dyslexia and dysgraphia.
Designing Learning Spaces: A Guide to Best Practices
From Cyprus to Brazil to Norway’s Svalbard: five studios show how school design shapes learning, with a guide to 15 more firms worldwide.
How do They Build Large Scale Education in Small Serbia: Reconstructions, New School Buildings and Projects
Serbian architects are reconstructing Yugoslav-era schools rather than demolishing them, adding floors and cutting costs by opening new buildings to the whole community
Damilola Okonkwo: Transforming education is the KEY to transforming Nigeria
A former JP Morgan banker built Africa’s first fully project-based school in Lagos, and is now scaling it nationwide through technology and teacher training.
Creativity and Freedom: Early Childhood Education in Japan
A field trip through four Tokyo-area kindergartens, from Tezuka’s award-winning Fuji to inclusion-focused Kiitos, and the market behind Japan’s private preschools.
Personalised Approach Doesn’t End in Virtual Classrooms: Kamran Baig on Learning Balance
Lucerne International School mixes online courses with five days a week on campus. Founding director Kamran Baig explains how the hybrid model works.
On Freedom and School: Was the Founder of Summerhill Right?
A century of Summerhill: how Alexander Neill’s democratic school worked, why it was almost closed, and what any school can borrow from it today.
ART and IT: How to Set Up Workshops at School
Four short video tours of EdDesign school projects: smart science labs, a Fab Lab, a 363 m² design workshop and a TV-show-style cooking classroom.
Collaborative Architectural Applications: Transforming the South African Educational Infrastructure Landscape
Architect Adrian De Waal Ritter on how ground-breaking schools in the UK, Europe and the US influence his designs for South African learning environments.
Navigating the Future of Learning: Architectural Perspectives from the USA
What US schools taught a South African architect: vertical campuses, tech integration and industrial open plans — from Avenues NYC to High Tech High.
The Life and Death of School Open Spaces: Why are Open Classrooms Being Rejected?
From Henderson-Hopkins to Rangiora, schools that bet on open spaces are adding walls back. What the research says about noise, focus and academic results.
An Architectural Odyssey: Exploring Schools Across Northern Europe
Architect Adrian De Waal Ritter tours schools in the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland — from Jan Duiker’s Open-Air School to Ørestad Gymnasium and LEGO’s Billund.
Action Plan for Building a School by Elena Aralova, EdDesign LLC Founder
A step-by-step action plan for school investors from Elena Aralova, whose company EdDesign LLC has launched 19 schools in six years.
The era of education has come to Kazakhstan”: Country is Building Schools for Almost One Million Students
Why Kazakhstan launched a KZT 2.5 trillion school-building programme, who invests in its schools and whether the sector is really a gold mine.
Energia School by EdDesign: Mix of Creativity and Science
A 19,300 m² school for 1,325 students in New Moscow by EdDesign: open to the neighbourhood, built around 16 old oaks, with a 1,000 m² science block.
La Berёzkа Academy by EdDesign: How to Create a Space for Storytelling
La Berёzkа Academy combines French co-founders, Russian culture and a RUB 150 million budget; EdDesign designed its interiors as a neutral stage for storytelling.
Yokohama International School: Japanese Traditions and Architectural Innovations
YIS director Craig Coutts on engaging architect Kengo Kuma and the compromises made to build a campus with space for meditation and tea ceremonies.
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