Designs on school desks

Designs on school desks

Top designers are trying to banish battered, ink-stained desks from the classroom - and replace them with sleek, futuristic designs.

Habitat's top furniture designer Matthew Hilton was one of those picked to come up with tables and chairs of the future.

He is part of one of six design teams chosen by the Design Council and the government to develop their ideas.

AZUMI TABLE AND CHAIR

1 - height-adjustable

2 - moves easily

3 - handy hooks for bags etc

Each team was given £20,000 to fund their work, which will appear in school classrooms this year.

Among the winning designs, chosen from 60 proposals, was a stream-lined workstation, involving a round table and a swivel chair joined together.

It was designed by a husband-and-wife team called Azumi.

The Design Council say the furniture launch represents the first major overhaul of school furniture since the second world war.

The organisation's Hilary Cottam said better school equipment would help both pupils and school staff.

"The workplace has already woken up to the link between staff morale and productivity and the design of the work environment," she said.

"The Design Council wants to take that thinking into the classroom and show how well-designed school resources can inspire pupils and teachers and actually improve learning."

Habitat designer Matthew Hilton's stacking table. Picture: Lauren Shear.

Habitat's top designer Matthew Hilton's idea was for stackable tables which can be height-adjusted and moved around easily to create more space in classrooms.

He worked with Jorge Quarta and Remploy, the country's biggest employer of disabled people and the UK's largest school furniture supplier.

Schools minister David Milliband welcomed the new furniture, saying: "Every child deserves to learn in modern school buildings with state-of-the-art facilities.

"There is a clear link between well equipped schools and pupil attainment.

"Good furniture design is vital to ensure that classrooms are inspiring places to work and learn."

Under the government's plans to repair and rebuild England's schools, it is inviting architects and designers to come forward with ideas for the creation of classrooms fit for the 21st century.

Mr Milliband's officials say they have had more than 300 expressions of interest in the competition.

It is reported that leading architects Norman Foster and Richard Rogers are interested in the project.