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School design has recently attracted some of the biggest names in Architecture. These new designs are unlike anything seen before, they are one off´s, unique to their site, there is no format. However, they still consist of the mundane necessities of a school - classrooms, canteen, assembly hall, etc. So why are these new designs attractive to the user? How do these buildings compare with the schools in use, which mainly date back to the post war era of design? These questions will be answered by looking at the differences between the mass of existing school buildings and this new wave of school designs. There are two design case studies, which were created in two difference eras; one is a post war 1950´s school located in suburban Bristol, and the other is a new modern primary located in central London. My analysis will include the cultural theory of semiotics. I consider the impacts of two different design movements, modernism and post-modernism, and the cultural climate at the times that both of these buildings were designed.

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Beth Chippindall gained her B.A. in Interior Design from the University College for the Creative Arts in Surrey. She is currently successfully working within the Interior Design Industry.

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