When designing for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), our primary focus is on creating spaces that are accessible, inclusive, and supportive for all students. For The Compass School, we partnered with Reds10 to implement consistent internal and external colours that are friendly to those with autism and SEMH needs, fostering a warm, comforting, and positive environment for the entire community.

The school is vibrant and inspiring from the inside out. It was essential when designing for students with specific needs such as SEMH, to make sure that the products installed were durable, robust, and had a calming colour palette, to avoid the space looking institutional or clinical. The classrooms were designed to promote concentration, and avoid dysregulation or distraction. We created and supplied sensory rooms so that children could relax in a calming environment and immerse themselves in sound and light therapy. We adhered to the DFE’s standard offerings but stretched the allowance given in order to allow for these special zones to be as fully equipped as possible under the limited constraints of the FF&E budget.

The furniture was cohesive between most classrooms so that the children wouldn’t be agitated when having to transition to new environments around the school. We were mindful of practical spaces and making them accessible to both older and younger students, as well as students with more severe physical disabilities that require DDA access to equipment, such as cooking hobs and sinks. The storage was all concealed and lockable to ensure maximum levels of safety, the blinds installed were anti ligature to avoid any risks of misuse, and the wall mounted storage was installed with floating tops to avoid build-up of rubbish and to keep the space clean.