The Mellor School extension demonstrates an exemplary approach to almost all of the climate emergency design themes. Firstly, with the use of MATERIALS such as timber in many forms, from the glulam “portal frames” to the red cedar shingles on the roof. It also uses strawbale for the insulation to external walls. This palette of materials ties into the school’s forest school teaching and learning ethos.

The Makoko floating school was a prototype floating structure in the Makoko community, which is largely built on the water of the lagoon of Lagos. In its short lifespan it became a symbol of the community, an internationally praised work of architecture but also an example of how architecture can fail to deliver what promised.

Frederiksbjerg School in Aarhus, Denmark, aligns with the principles outlined in the 2013 Danish school reform. The school supports dynamic learning through movement and sensory exploration while emphasising openness and community spirit. The school has become a central hub for local children and youth. This deliberate design fosters individual and community wellbeing and nurtures a strong sense of togetherness among students.

The school is an impressive example of a hand-crafted endeavour, highlighting excellent principles of sustainable design and architecture that resonates with the community. By skilfully integrating tradition wisdom, easily accessible renewable resources, and innovative building methods, the project preserves its traditional identity while also welcoming contemporary elements in its appearance and function. The school (for 168 students) adopts an alternative child-directed work method over conventional frontal lessons. Mirroring this philosophy, the two-story school architecture offers diverse spaces for children’s activities, aligning design with the educational approach.

The Gando Primary School was built to expand the sparse network of schools in the province of Boulgou, in the east of Burkina Faso, and addressed two characteristic problems of many educational buildings in the area: poor lighting and ventilation. In order to achieve sustainability, the project was based on the principles of designing for climatic comfort with low-cost construction, making the most of local materials and the potential of the local community, and adapting technology from the industrialized world in a simple way. Underlying the project was a strong didactic component: it was designed as an exemplar that would raise awareness in the local community of the merits of traditional materials, updated with simple techniques that would need few new skills. The school building includes three volumes, each containing a classroom measuring 7 x 9 metres, connected by a single roof make up the basic structure of the building, and each one of them accommodates one classroom for fifty students.