I chaired a conference recently on designing and constructing universities and colleges.

It was a timely moment to muster some positive thinking amid the fiscal gloom, directly hitting this sector too, and to reflect on the role not just of these anchor institutions, but also of the role of design within them. 

If there is an upside to this downturn it must be the opportunity for a shift in perspective; from the too frequent short-termism of now-wow to longer-term assessments and criteria of need, value, and with that, success. Getting the capital investment right has added imperative just now. Clients can’t afford not to think of long-term value, neither can we.

If ever you could hope for an educated client it would surely be in education. Quite apart from the concentration of grey matter, here are managers of institutions and corresponding estates that require short and long-term strategies for maintenance and renewal, expansion and change, requiring an interesting balance of conservatism and innovation.

HE and FE institutions are significant businesses, but not driven by commercial purpose; students and staff do need to be attracted and retained, but for the greater good of their intellectual enrichment, not the profit of the institution per se. Their perspective is already directed away from pure commercial ends. ‘Value’ already has a different meaning. And user demand is adding to this shift such that, for example, environmental sustainability is increasingly driven as much by the business case by as statutory and ethical stimulus. 

So what could this mean for designers? Can we look forward to tender processes that focus on the ‘how’ rather than the ‘what’; that recognise the value of asking questions before expecting answers? Will we see clients seeking partners in understanding and managing change for continual, evolving transformation and success rather than producers of alluring quick-fixes or returns?  And could we find ourselves applying our real skills of engineering value instead of the established set-piece of value engineering? With this more integrated role we could really help to strategically consolidate estates and operations while opening up new avenues for cross fertilisation of research and innovations in learning. This could be a real silver lining to emerge from this dark cloud.

Gillian Horn is a partner at Penoyre & Prasad