Cramond Primary School

The Interior Design team created a new primary one STEM classroom in 2017 and a new primary seven learning hub in 2018 at Cramond Primary School .

The P7 Learning Hub

The new space has a variety of flexible furniture for different learning activities. There are:

• booths that create a more enclosed collaborative space
• upholstered cube stools that can be used anywhere in the room
• beanbags
• portable flip chart for the learners to work with wherever they are
• chairs with flip down desks for individual working
• flexible tables that can be split up used with a variety of different seats
• a large work bench that is good for group work and practical tasks

The P1 STEM Classroom

The primary one STEM classroom was designed to help the transition from Early Years to primary one. Working with the very enthusiastic head teacher Helen Donaldson, the design team developed the concept of “Earth, Fire, Air and Water” to relate to the personality traits of all students in the school and their varying needs.

• Fire represents the pressure of the collaboration space.
• Earth is the quiet relaxed safe spaces.
• Air represents the cloud based integrated technology used.
• Water element is the flow of the teacher and learners around the classroom to work wherever was comfortable and appropriate for the activity.

The team over emphasised the concept as it was a primary one STEM room by having a learning tree in the earth zone, a river running through the space in the flooring and woolly clouds in the ceilings to create a biophilic feel.

Cramond primary school P1 design 

The design incorporates the principles of biophillic design using an elemental theme and flexible learning spaces to enhance the learning experience.

At Cramond Primary School the Interior Design team were also exploring the ability to ease the transition between the free flow of a nursery and the formality of a traditional primary one classroom with a learning through play approach.

The school intended to share this new space between all three primary one classes to enable the STEM room to benefit all learners. Through this approach the learners were being eased into primary one and the movement between spaces for different activities prepares the learners for this approach at secondary level.

The room has been very well received by all staff and learners and it has had a positive impact on the learners with additional support needs becoming more engaged in group work and class discussions.

The variety of spaces available and calming feel to the room has made a positive impact on all learners.