Did It Come from Another Galaxy?
No, this is the newly opened school building of widely acclaimed Monkseaton High School in Newcastle, UK, founded by Dr. Paul Kelley. The school is designed to accommodate very unconventional ways of learning based on how the human brain actually learns best. The approach is to use the finding of neuroscience research in a more natural environment.
Imagine a high school that looks more like a large disc- shaped UFO with half of its surface translucent, encased in a giant metal framed basket. There are red, blue, yellow and green boxes arranged on top. It’s like no school you’ve every seen before.
· It is made of 7,000 pieces of steel.
· It avoids square classrooms to cut noise AND classrooms have no ceilings.
· There are 44 individual pre-manufacture toilet pods, eliminating communal toilets.
· The roof features “wind catchers” designed encourage natural air movements, reducing need for air conditioning.
· Solar panels, insulation and solar shading using brise soleil on external walls help save energy.
Monkseaton was the first public trust school in Great Britain. In collaboration with corporate partners and university researchers, Monkseaton, serving a population of disadvantaged youth, has pioneered new approaches to learning foreign languages, school environmental design, and learning math, science and technology.