15 School Renovation and Construction Tips

June 7, 2022

School renovation and construction is an exciting process involving multiple steps. When it’s done correctly, it can help students succeed in a modern, newly-designed environment.

Check Out Our Classroom Design Tips

If you’re undertaking a project of this magnitude, it’s important to create a plan to help you meet all your goals. Construction and renovation can often be challenging, filled with various hurdles and problems you will need to address.

It can help to stay patient and open-minded and to keep some school renovation tips in mind.

1. Gather Information

One of the first things you’ll want to do for your school renovation is gather information. Collect data about the original school design, electrical and plumbing information and any other valuable construction details.

In the early phases of construction and renovation, it’s essential to collect what you need and pay attention to those small details so you can ensure everything goes smoothly.

When it comes to large projects, valuable information can help you avoid mistakes and make sure your plan is sound. Consult with your contractor and others who may have insightful information about your building and its various designs.

2. Get Student Input

Make sure you understand your students’ needs. Renovation and construction will likely impact them the most, so it’s important to get a feel for what students want and what would help them succeed.

Schoolwide surveys are an excellent way to gauge opinions about the current state of the school and what changes people would like to see made. Along with surveys, simple conversations with students and staff can give you valuable information about how you should approach construction and renovations.

When the work is done, your students and faculty will be happy with how it turned out.

3. Plan Layout

School construction projects start with the layout. Make sure whoever creates the overall plan is thorough. Have plans for potential issues and stay flexible as you begin the work. When it comes to big projects, there’s usually going to be some type of issue, so it can help to understand problems you may have to work through.

Keep some central layout aspects throughout the planning process:

Interaction: Think about how you can craft a layout to promote interaction and collaboration. The function of a room can dictate how you want interactions to happen — you’ll probably want more interaction in creative parts of the school, while libraries will have more separation.
Traffic flow: Hallways can often become a mass of students struggling to get from class to class. Try to find ways to minimize these traffic jams and build multiple ways for students to get to where they need to go.
Emergency exits: Incorporate safety into the layout design by identifying emergency exits.

Incorporating these various thoughtful layout designs will add value to your renovations. The more detail you can add to these layouts, the more satisfied you’ll likely be with the finished product.

4. Aim for an Overall Design

Overall designs are crucial — even if you’re renovating a small portion of your school. Picking a design will help students adapt to the new environment and also put some parameters around your school refurbishment project. Think about what you want your finished product to look like and what qualities you want it to have.

Are you looking for a modern classroom? A place where your students can feel safe? Use furniture, colors and flooring to help create the design you’re looking for.

Determine the general feeling you want this new renovation to evoke and find ways to integrate this into your design.

5. Build for Adaptability

School renovations aren’t usually a one-off project — they should contribute towards a longer vision of the school’s overall design. It can be helpful to identify the future construction plans of the school and work this into your plan.

School construction is a challenging process and often only takes place within that narrow window of summer vacation. Try to make your new design adaptable and moldable for future plans.

6. Keep Colors in Mind

While construction itself can be important, it’s also crucial to think about how you want the finished product to look — and what colors to use. Colors often play more of a role than we think in our lives, especially when it comes to education.

The right color may even be able to help students learn. Gain some information about how colors affect our minds and use that in your plans. Here are some various color schemes that can help you craft a particular feeling:

Reds and oranges: These colors are full of energy and can jumpstart your mind into action. Reds and oranges may be great for entrances to the school or for classrooms where students are creative and active.
Blues and greens: Blues and greens often inspire calm, grounding feelings that can help people feel relaxed. Libraries or areas that involve more meditative, focused thinking are great places to include tones of blue and green.
Grays and beiges: If you’re going for a neutral style that won’t significantly impact students, then gray and beige colors will be a good choice. These colors often fade into the background without attracting much attention. They can also create a modern feel to interior architecture.

Colors are a great tool to give your classrooms the feel you want. Consider each room’s function and use colors to match it.

7. Let in Natural Light

Natural light offers many benefits. Schools are finding more ways to incorporate natural lighting into the classrooms to help craft an inviting, healthy atmosphere attuned to modern standards. Open up the drapes, build long, tall windows and design your classrooms around natural light to receive its many benefits, including:

Increased vitamin D: This vitamin helps maintain good health, reducing the risk of heart disease, weight gain and certain types of cancer. The simple act of having a window in a classroom will let some sun in and allow students to build up their health while learning.
Defense against seasonal depression: Shorter and colder days can start to affect the mood of many students, leading to a decline in focus and motivation. Natural light can help defend against these mood changes and keep students alert during the day.
Improved sleep: Many students aren’t getting the sleep they need, which can lead to grogginess throughout the day. Exposure to natural light can improve sleep, which may be just the thing students need to get on the right track.
Eliminates the need for fluorescents: Natural light can also act as a healthy alternative to fluorescent lights, which can contribute to elevated stress levels and eye strain.

As you plan for your school construction or renovation project, try to find some ways to integrate natural lighting into your strategy.

8. Add Comfort

While rigid, hard seating may have been the traditional standard for many years, some educators are seeing benefits in adding a certain level of comfort to their schools. Comfortable furniture and seats designed for sitting for long periods can help students feel more attuned to the learning process.

Though excessive comfort could lull students into a loss of focus, a little bit can be just the thing to improve the learning process.

9. Promote Safety

Safety should be a major priority when it comes to school construction and renovation. These could be simple design additions such as rounded edges on desks or could be part of an overarching plan for the school.

However you decide to incorporate safety, make sure the finished product is something you can be confident in. When students and feel faculty feel safe throughout the day, there will be a much easier path for teaching and learning.

10. Declutter

Organization and cleanliness can vastly improve the learning process. A decluttered layout will help eliminate distractions and make your school a haven for clarity. How you choose to declutter your layout is up to you — you may decide to go for a more open floor plan or institute safety technology to help organize areas.

Removing those heaps of miscellaneous items will also defend against rodent infestation.

11. Communicate

One of the best ways to make a school renovation and construction project go smoothly is to communicate. Talk to your contractor about what you want or any worries you may have.

Opening a clear line of communication will help establish a sense of collaboration. When a problem does arise, you’ll have already built a strong foundation that will allow you to solve the issue quickly and effectively.

12. Improve Airflow

Stale, unhealthy air is one of the biggest issues in schools today. During your renovation or construction process, try to find ways to help air flow freely throughout the school. This could be as simple as adding more windows that can be opened on nice days or building a layout that promotes fresh airflow.

13. Make Your Construction Site Safe

If you’re having construction when school or other activities are in session, be sure you have a safety plan in place to protect students, parents and faculty. There are many dangers involved with construction.

It’s safest to schedule construction when students are away from the school. If they will be in the area, identify strategies to eliminate as much risk as possible.

14. Avoid Damage

Along with making sure other people are safe during the construction process, you should also check that the original structure is protected. Communicate with the contractor to ensure the necessary safety measures are in place to avoid damage to your building. Protective floor mats and door frame protectors are small steps that can prevent costly repairs.

15. Consider Technology

You’ll find technology in nearly every classroom nowadays. It offers an innovative, intuitive way for students to learn. If you’re looking to upgrade your classrooms and make teaching even more effective, adding new technology like laptops or tablets can be the perfect option. Students can use these devices to work together on projects or do independent research.

Charging carts offer an effective way to store and charge these devices. With traditional storage carts, those devices can be misplaced, and cords can get tangled, sucking up time and energy. With new, more innovative designs, however, charging carts can streamline learning and add value to the school day.

Benefits of PowerGistics

PowerGistics offers a quality selection of charging towers specifically suited to the classroom. With our innovative technology and modern designs, you can start experiencing all the benefits of PowerGistics charging stations:

Convenience: Our charging towers offer unparalleled convenience. Our mobile carts allow you to wheel your station to any room or area you want. Innovative designs like the TechStop enable students to retrieve their devices easily and put them back without a hassle. You won’t waste time untangling cords and can focus on the things that matter.
Safety: Many of our products come with antimicrobial material that defends against germs and diseases. Fighting bacteria is one of the many challenges of running a school — PowerGistics charging stations can act as a tool to help you in the fight.
Security: An open-door design allows educators to quickly look inside the charging station and see which devices are available at all times. Teachers can take attendance by simply looking at the charging tower. Keyed locks ensure security when the cart is not in use.
Quality: At PowerGistics, we use quality materials and designs to craft our products. From the modern appearance to its innovative functions, our charging towers will offer you quality storage space for a long time. You can be confident in the reliability of our products.
Customization: Find the product that suits your specific situation. Choose from various storage, security and safety options and decide whether you want a stationary or mobile tower. You even can customize your tower with different colors and match it to your school logo.

Gain all these advantages and more when you buy from PowerGistics. We are your solution for storing and charging devices in the education industry.

Request Pricing Today

Planning a school renovation or construction project involves a lot of planning and designing. You want to make sure all those small details are covered and that you receive value out of school renovation tips. You’ll also want to find a company that can offer you quality products to help your school function effectively.

PowerGistics offers that kind of quality, providing towers that can store and charge your devices at the time time. Our charging towers are secure and safe and provide intuitive technology that will allow students to easily retrieve and put back devices without the hassle of untangling knots of cords.

Browse our selection of PowerGistics charging stations to find the perfect product for you. Request pricing today!