SIK-Holz_Schulhof_2016_en

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SIK-Holz® › Communication- and Retreat Area
Communication areas are both places of rest as well as
places of attentiveness. Equipped with simple wooden or
stone seating elements, they encourage student’s social
contacts during breaks and when lessons are over.
The design of the seat elements should take unconventional
forms into account. Not the classic bench
on which the students sit next to each other is in demand
here, but structures on which one can lounge
around or “chill”. Sculptures, which sometimes exert a
greater attraction, can also take over this function.
These types of meeting places not only offer the
opportunity to retreat and relax. They are also used to
present oneself in a small group. A small platform can
readily become a stage and a seating log an auditorium.
The larger these places are, the more they are able to
assume the function of an open-air classroom.
In principle, every opportunity should be used for
teaching outdoors. Tribunes with several platforms, built
in a semi or three-quarter circle or in an open rectangle
or square, are proven to be of value. At the minimum, an
open-air classroom should have 15 seats, as well as the
possibility to add chairs or benches as required. When
putting an open-air classroom in place, it must be taken
into account that it does not interfere with other classrooms.
All forms of meeting places, whether seating
group, hangout or open-air classroom, are important for
social and educational aspects and are indispensable in a
schoolyard.
9.5.26 Mobile Sitting Balancing Structure