Seventeenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

The design of learning environments has a significant role in students’ health and well-being, particularly in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted many challenges concerning the quality of learning environments in our schools, especially elementary schools. This emergency caused a massive closure for the schools and around 1.2 billion students were unable to learn in their physical learning environments during this period. Before developing medications for the epidemic, one solution to limit the infection was transforming our learning environments and adding layers of protection to ensure healthy and safe spaces for students. This paper investigates the design principles of healthy learning environments according to AIA guidelines for safe learning environments. A comparative analysis is conducted on three existing elementary schools, which have succeeded to limit infection transmission and transform into healthy learning environments during COVID-19. Finally, the paper provides a framework and recommendations for the designing of future healthy learning environments to face any potential pandemic in the future.