The combined impact of school design and procurement on student wellbeing and educational outcomes
ISSN: 0263-2772
Article publication date: 28 March 2022
Issue publication date: 7 April 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Despite growing evidence of the impact of school facilities on wellbeing and educational outcomes, no attention has been given to understanding this impact in relation to the interrelationship of design and procurement and their combined effect. This paper aims to address this gap by presenting the outcomes of a study of the design/procurement relationship pre-opening and post-opening of schools.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative case study methodology enabled in-depth exploration of six Australian Government schools procured through “public private partnerships” (PPP) or “design & construct” (D&C) and “design, bid, build” (DBB). Data collected through interviews with architects, education department officers, school principals and teachers were analysed thematically using techniques aligned with grounded theory methodology.
Findings
The paper reports three key findings: pre-opening of schools, budget impacts design similarly for procurement across PPP and (D&C/DBB) case schools; pre-opening of schools, prescriptive design impacts procurement similarly across PPPs and D&C/DBB schools; post-opening of schools, procurement impacts design and school operation in different ways across PPP and D&C/DBB schools. These findings point to a fundamental finding that it is design and procurement together that impacts well-being and educational outcomes as experienced by principals and teachers.
Practical implications
This research may be of practical value for education departments, architects, facility managers, school principals and teachers.
Originality/value
This paper provides original evidence of the relationship between procurement and design and their combined impact on student well-being and educational outcomes.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Australian Research Council (LP160100259) and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for their funding and in-kind support. The authors are also indebted to their colleague Adjunct Associate Professor Hilary Hughes for her supervision of the Masters of Philosophy project that informed the first stage of the study.
Citation
Rolfe, A., Franz, J. and Bridge, A. (2022), "The combined impact of school design and procurement on student wellbeing and educational outcomes", Facilities, Vol. 40 No. 7/8, pp. 533-550. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-08-2021-0071
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited