American architecture studio SOM has created a design for a ventilated, high-ceilinged, modular classroom for schools that need temporary accommodation.
Named School/House, the pop-up classrooms were designed in response to the current coronavirus pandemic but are intended to provide a more healthy alternative to current options available for schools in need of additional classroom space.
"We designed School/House to address two key issues: an urgent need for temporary additional educational space as a response to the current pandemic, and to improve upon existing options for temporary classrooms, creating a temporary space that is truly intended for teaching and learning," said Jon Cicconi, an associate director at SOM.
Top: SOM has designed School/House. Above: the interior of the temporary classrooms The modular classrooms are designed to be healthy indoor learning spaces for 25 students positioned 1.8 metres (six feet) away from each other, or up to 50 students in a regular configuration.
They would have pitched roofs creating classrooms with six-metre-high ceilings, while a raised floor would contain power sockets and ventilation to remove air from around each desk. The whole interior would be clad in easily sanitised finishes.
The classrooms would have high ceilings and air intakes to encourage airflow
"The design is intended to free the classroom from the spatial constraints of the traditional modular classroom building," Cicconi told Dezeen.
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