Functional Planning of Elementary School Buildings. Bulletin, 1936, No. 19
Author: Barrows, Alice
Date: 1937-00-00
Type: Historical Materials
Subjects: Architecture,Educational Facilities Design,School Buildings,Elementary Schools,Planning,Institutional Characteristics,Space Utilization,Instructional Program Divisions,Classrooms,School Organization,Building Design,Classroom Design,Interior Space

The study of "Functional Planning of Elementary School Buildings" is a cooperative piece of work carried to completion by the Office of Education with very generous assistance from the National Advisory Council on School Building Problems. The Office is under deep obligation to the National Advisory Council for the time and thought which the officers and members of its regional councils have given both in the planning of the work and in the evaluation of the results; and to many superintendents of schools and architects for their generous cooperation in providing the floor plans of school buildings which served as the basis for the study. This study is especially important at the present time because of the increase in school building construction made possible through the grants and loans of the Public Works Administration and because there are numerous indications of accelerated activity in the school building field. Furthermore, as stated above, this study was organized and carried on in cooperation with school superintendents and architects of wide experience who are today actively engaged in finding practical solutions for school building problems. The purpose of the study was to discover how the kinds of education to be carried on in a school affect every detail of the plans for the building--general lay-out, types of rooms, their dimensions, equipment, and arrangement; the design, size, and equipment of the auditorium, gymnasiums, and playrooms, etc. In other words, the purpose was not to work out hard and fast standards of school building construction but, rather, to show how the changing ideals and methods of elementary school education are affecting the design and construction of school buildings. This bulletin is divided into four chapters: (1) Significance of the study; (2) Scope of the study; (3) Planning buildings for four different types of school organization; and (4) Capacity and utilization of the school plants. Appended are: (1) National Advisory Council on School Building Problems: Officers and executive committee, members, and advisory architects; (2) Cities in which school buildings included in the study are located: Name of school, name of superintendent, and name of architect; (3) Number of school buildings of each type of school organization, by States and regions; (4) List of school buildings in the study grouped according to types of school organization for which they were planned; (5) Explanation of educational programs; (6) Number and percent of buildings of various types of school organization according to periods of erection; (7) Definition of terms in tables and charts; (8) Education facilities; (9) Definition of units in (a) "instructional" and (b) "noninstructional" space; (10) Number of cubic feet per pupil for 74 school buildings having different types of school organization on the basis of educational programs at 40 pupils per class; (11) Estimated capacity; (12) Educational program for 1 week of the Joseph Koenig Elementary School; (13) Educational program for 1 day of the Joseph Koenig Elementary School; (14) Educational program for 1 day of the Wyman Elementary School, Winchester, Mass.; (15) Educational program for 1 day at the Hawthorne Elementary School, Waterloo, Iowa; (16) Educational program for 1 week of the Sequoyah Elementary School, Tulsa, Okla; (17) Educational program for 1 week of the Longfellow L 78 Elementary School, Pontiac, Mich; (18) Educational program for 1 day of the Bryant-Webster Elementary School, Denver, Colo; (19) Educational program for 1 day of the Sherman Elementary School, San Diego, Calif; and (20) Educational program for 1 week of the Mary C. I. Williams Elementary School, Wilmington, Del. (Contains 10 tables and 25 charts. Individual chapters contain footnotes. [Best copy available has been provided.