1. Don’t underestimate colour
Colour can have significant effects on mood, productivity, health and wellbeing. Research commissioned by Dulux Trade in April 2017 and conducted by 3GEM Research and Insights found that 85% of UK teachers agreed that a vibrant space can inspire teachers and pupils alike.
2. Why redecorate?
A primary school’s interior spaces and surroundings should ultimately aim to encourage concentration, creativity and learning. When deciding on a new scheme, make a point of selecting paint specifications that are variously light, bright and perhaps even playful.
3. Settle on a scheme
To find a colour scheme that works for your school, it’s important to first understand how your teachers and pupils interact with and move around the building. Are there areas that might benefit from bright, stimulating colours and others where more muted shades might be more suitable?
4. Explore the options
With the upper spend limit for schools set at £1,300 per square metre, many educational establishments assume they can’t deliver good results within their budget – but by exploring the range of options available, you’ll be able to maximise the benefits that redecorating can offer.
5. Don’t overstimulate
Younger pupils new to your school may appreciate brighter colours, but your main objective should be to encourage fun and play without overstimulating. Clean, neutral colours complemented by vibrantly decorated feature walls and doors are ideal for learning environments.
6. Use natural light
It’s possible to make a classroom seem brighter and lighter by harnessing natural light and reflecting it back into the room. Dulux Trade’s Diamond Matt Light and Space, for example, requires 22% less light energy* than other surfaces, which could afford schools the opportunity to switch to using lower wattage bulbs.
7. Expect the unexpected
Paints used in corridors and other shared spaces must withstand high volumes of movement and a rigorous cleaning regime. Certain paint formulations will actively repel stains, while offering improved durability. The need for fewer retouches during the building’s lifespan will help reduce long term costs.
8. Observe the regulations
Take note of Building Regulations Part M (BS8300), which stipulate a minimum difference in light reflectance of 30 points between two adjoining surfaces in new build projects. For accessibility purposes, colour schemes also need to clearly distinguish between walls, floors, doorframes and ceilings.
9. Use tools
Specifiers can call upon a number of different tools such as the Dulux Trade Colour Schemer (see panel), which helps specifiers maximise the inclusivity and usability of their spaces through the creation of colour schemes that are both aesthetically pleasing and compliant with official visual contrast guidelines.
10. Take responsibility
Provided they’re specified correctly, the right paint finish can contribute to the sustainability of a school in its composition, ease of maintenance and longevity. Lower Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) content and embodied carbon levels are key to minimising the impact of any paint choice on the environment.
“They were able to put forward their vision for the spaces”
How a redecorating project at one Telford school invited pupils to submit some ideas of their own
Vibrancy
Recognising that primary schools often require support to achieve the optimum finish on any refurbishment project, Dulux Trade launched Smarter Spaces in 2015 – an initiative to help teachers and pupils thrive with the aid of colour and design.
Working with schools around the UK, the Smarter Spaces team create spaces that help transform schools and classrooms. Lawley Primary School in Telford is one such project. Working closely with the school and its Year 5 pupils, the Dulux Smarter Spaces team created a refreshing design for the communal areas that was not only aesthetically pleasing, but also able to enhance the pupils’ experiences of school.
With the introduction of a stimulating wall feature, the school’s entrance hall and main corridor have been transformed.
Durability
Utilising varying shades of blue and yellow, the wall features a splash of green in its colour-blocking pattern to accompany nature-led images designed by the pupils. The warm, neutral tone chosen for the other wall areas incorporate a hint of peach that complements the pastel hue of the blue and yellow, further enhancing the vibrancy of the green.
Dulux Trade Diamond Matt water-based emulsion paint was specified for the project due to its superior durability, with Diamond technology from Dulux Trade making it 10 times tougher than the Vinyl Matt and Vinyl Silk ranges.
The inclusion of Stain Repellent Technology ensures that the paint range is ideal for high traffic areas, such as busy school corridors, since it can be cleaned without the continuous need for touch ups – thus prolonging the lifetime of the paint.
Input
This use of a more hard-wearing and durable type of paint ultimately helps to reduce the school’s long-term building maintenance costs.
Another key contributing factor to the successful transformation of Lawley Primary School’s interiors was the incorporation of design input from the pupils themselves. They were they invited to put forward their own vision for how the school’s spaces could potentially look, and in some cases their design ideas were acted upon, resulting in a colourful welcome for their teachers and fellow pupils as they enter the building each day.
Conceiving a comfortable, visually appealing space that can support and enrich pupils’ learning is vital to the success of any educational project – with colour playing a key component of any design scheme.
Peter Howard is public sector lead at AkzoNobel, makers of Dulux Trade; for more information, follow @DuluxTrade
