<i>Technological, economic and social changes are putting growing pressures on teaching methods and programmes and pointing to new trends in tertiary education. Is existing infrastructure flexible enough to meet the changing demands? What new forms of facilities governance and funding are proving...</i>

Post Occupancy Evaluation is described here in terms of its aims, principles, benefits, methods, timing and results. Three examples illustrating the evaluation of educational facilities are given, followed by a summary.

The United Kingdom’s Department for Education and Skills commissioned a major study to examine the relationship between capital investment in schools and subsequent academic attainment. In particular, a key objective of the study was to establish, if possible, the additional effect in terms of...

Does Geneva’s Montbrillant lower secondary school, which has now been in use for one year, meet the objectives targeted when it was designed? Does the new school respond to the needs and expectations of staff and students? Questions such as these serve to evaluate the quality of a school...

In June 2004, the Scottish Executive published guidance on evaluating completed school building projects, <i>Building Our Future: Scotland’s School Estate</i>, as part of the School Estate Strategy; the guidance included a case study evaluation at an Edinburgh primary school (see <i>PEB Exchange</i>, no....

Extensive efforts world-wide have been made to develop performance measures for the physical infrastructure of educational institutions. However, this issue is not easy to resolve given the differences in data collection and management within individual countries and between countries. The...

The Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland and Wales commissioned a research project into the development of estate management statistics for the higher education sector. The key tasks of the research were to identify key estate management “performance indicators”, develop...

Confronted with a growing need for educational buildings and a significant lack of funds, Belgium’s Flemish Community carried out an inquiry into building needs at all levels of education. This article concentrates on the methodology used for the inquiry, the findings and the consequences for...

This article explores three ways in which students may be taught about environmentally sustainable design. The first is through the passive example of the school premises. The second is through architects-in-schools schemes, with reference to the school premises. And the third is through...

Brazil’s São Paulo Metropolitan Region is conducting a performance evaluation pilot study at three schools serving disadvantaged populations. The objective is first to test methods which can facilitate Post Occupancy Evaluations (POEs) and then to carry out the evaluations. The preliminary...