The well-intentioned school 

Starting with the good intention to design the ideal school, where nothing is left but school, a type of school was developed that strives for complete scholarly, institutionalised efficiency. Believing that this is the most efficient for pure learning, references to the outside world are banned from the school building as much as possible by a plurality of design-related decisions. The school model is versatile and applicable in the current, known school landscape. It is also possible, to a certain extent, for existing schools to integrate their needs and program within this ultimate, most desirable model. To protect the school attendees from the distraction of their co-learners, it is essential to apply the system to single-sex schools only. The model consists of a concatenation of archetypical school elements, most of which are present in every school, possibly under another name. The design was created by purifying every element until it reached its most essential academic function. Underneath an overview of these elements, together with the appropriate user behaviours towards them.

1. Wall
The wall is the most obvious delineation with the outside world as well as its only contact with it. The massive wall filters ambient noise away from the rooms for institutional use and creates a buffer that allows on the one hand a maximum amount of daylight and on the other hand a noiseless passage of the director. The buffer ensures a minimal distraction to the outside world.

2. Gate
“The gate is the face of the school, the element that is being looked at, it is the logo of the school.” The school attendees enter the school through the gate, 10 minutes before instruction starts. At the gate they will move towards the cloakroom, this is the transition zone where all belongings from the outside world are left behind in their assigned lockers, where they put on their uniform and inspect it for inaccuracies. Once through the gate they live by the rhythm of the school, marked by a signal in the corridor.

3. Uniform
The uniform ensures that all school users can move within the school in a certain comfortable anonymity. The uniform gives expression to the equality between the school attendees, between the institution staff and between the director. They each have their own custom-made, numbered uniform.
The uniform design allows a quick inspection for inaccuracies when it is taken from or put back into the locker. The uniform contains three pens in custom penholders attached to it which the school attendees use during instruction sessions or in the study.
Outside the transition zone all users of the school will wear their uniform at all times.
 
4. Director 
“The power of the director extends throughout the whole school. As an epicentre it is the place where the institute is concentrated.” It is the only place in the school with a clear visual link to the outside world; the clock.
The director is situated above the gate from where can be entered the hung up corridor. From this corridor the director can keep an eye on the movements of the school attendees and the institution staff. The passage of the director is announced in the corridor by the echo of the metal grate.
The director the only one who can enter the buffer zone to have a look at the rooms of instruction. There the passage of the director is noiseless because of the rubber flooring.

5. Corridor
“The corridor is the circular device of the school, where it shows its expanse and its undomesticated character” in favor of discipline.
The apprentices will only use the corridor during break periods between the instruction sessions.
The corridor shows a clear, material division in a zone for school attendees and one for the institution staff. The school attendees will move along the shortest route in between instruction sessions along the indicated direction. The school attendees will cross the path of the institution staff at predefined zones.
 
6. Rooms for institutional use
The model provides in theoretical knowledge and in practical skills. Both are being instructed through strictly individual exercises. The rooms for institutional use are divided into instruction rooms, which all have the same spacial environment, and practice rooms, where the spacial environment differs in the size of the table surface, this surface depends on the skill that has to be learned.
The occupation of the instruction rooms is set on 40 school attendees, where the occupation of the practice rooms is defined by the variabel surface size of the table, depending on the to be learnt skill.
The room for institutional use is “the cell of the school, and her actual reason of existence”, the design is built up by the linear growth of this cell.
To protect from the distraction from instruction, the contact with the outside world has been reduced to an absolute zero, the ceiling of the room is provided with a north arrow, so school attendees can orientate themselves at all time.
The rooms for institutional use are being provided with a rich dose of natural light to obtain an ideal learning environment, without sights to the outside. Furthermore, the rooms are being ventilated and cooled to the ideal surrounding temperature, without any noises from outside.
The school attendees are being protected from the distraction from instruction by providing the directors insight in the end face of the room, this insight happens on the one hand from the bufferzone and from the other hand from the overflow above the room for physical development.

7. Table
The table is being designed so the school attendees have maximal use out of a minimal necessary surface. The individual piece of furniture is being totally manufactured from safety glass to obtain a good perspective in the room for institutional use and to offer a scratch proof, indefeasible piece of furniture to the school attendee.
The directors and teaching staff can observe all acts of the school attendees through the table so protection against distraction from instruction is provided.
In the rooms for institutional use and the study, school attendees will take place standing-up at their assigned table. School attendees will recognize their table at it’s number.

8. Elements for interruption of the instruction 
 
During the interruption of the instruction, the school attendees will get one of the following actions assigned, which they will know because of their daily schedule. The actions are to be fulfilled in the rooms for that purpose.