Rethinking how we design and deliver SEND environments

The growing challenge: Are our education estates keeping pace? 

Across England, demand for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision continues to grow, placing increasing pressure on education estates, budgets and infrastructure. According to the Department for Education, there were 718,838 active Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans in January 2026, an increase of 12.5% on the previous year. The scale of demand raises important questions about how existing schools and colleges can accommodate an increasingly diverse range of needs, and how new provisions should be planned. 

Meeting this challenge is about more than creating additional places. The National Audit Office’s review of SEND provision highlights the financial pressures facing the system, reinforcing the need for informed decisions about investment. For education providers, architects and construction partners, the challenge is to create spaces that genuinely support the range of people using them, while responding to the realities of existing buildings, available budgets and increasingly complex technical requirements. 

Bringing together AIS’s global expertise in real estate strategy, design and construction with Saunders Architecture + Urban Design’s specialist knowledge of education environments, the two organisations explore how a more collaborative approach can help address the growing SEND challenge. Drawing on their experience working together, they consider why understanding learners’ needs, making better use of existing education estates and involving the right expertise from the outset are essential to creating environments that are inclusive, adaptable and fit for the future. 

Designing for difference: Why understanding the learner comes first 

Within a single SEND education setting, some learners may be developing essential life skills, from preparing food to navigating social interactions, while others are studying advanced subjects, developing specialist talents or preparing to transition into mainstream further education. Creating environments that support this breadth of need requires a far more nuanced approach than adapting a conventional classroom. 

For Saunders, understanding how a space will be experienced by its users is fundamental to the design process. On a recent specialist education project, the team spent two days observing activities across two college settings, speaking with teachers, therapists, leadership team and the learners who use the space every day. This consultation helped establish how the buildings needed to function throughout the day, including the moments and interactions that might otherwise be overlooked. 

Annabel Lait, Director at Saunders explains “You can’t design a successful SEND environment by working through a standard set of requirements. Every setting is different, and the only way to really understand what learners and staff need is to spend time with them. It’s about observing how they use spaces, listening to the people who know them best, and recognising that sometimes the smallest design decisions can make the biggest difference.” 

Sensory considerations are central to this approach. Adjustable lighting, acoustic treatment and carefully considered colour palettes can help manage stimulation, while colour coding can make environments easier to navigate. Distinguishing learning areas from social spaces through different colours, for example, can help learners understand where they are and what to expect. 

Robustness is equally important. Doors, windows, furniture and finishes must withstand intensive daily use, with surfaces that can be cleaned and maintained easily. Yet durability cannot come at the expense of creating an uplifting environment. The ambition is to create somewhere learners want to spend time, with the character and independence associated with a college rather than an institutional setting. 

While guidance such as Building Bulletin 104 provides an important starting point for area planning, Saunders’ approach is to go further, using meaningful consultation to understand the requirements of each education setting. of each education setting. 

The importance of the spaces in-between 

Some of the most significant design decisions in SEND environments concern the spaces beyond the classroom. Transitions can be particularly challenging for learners, whether moving from a car into the building, between lessons or from a classroom into a busy communal area. Corridors, circulation routes and arrival spaces therefore have a much greater role to play than simply connecting different parts of a building. 

In specialist settings, a corridor might provide an alternative place to learn, a space to regulate emotions or somewhere to pause before rejoining a group. Carefully positioned seating, clear sightlines and appropriate staff visibility allow these spaces to accommodate individual needs while maintaining supervision. 

Quiet rooms can offer opportunities for learners to decompress, with soft, cleanable furniture and layouts that balance privacy with appropriate staff oversight. Sensory rooms may incorporate adjustable lighting, sound and other features tailored to individual requirements, while dedicated physical activity spaces can support movement, wellbeing and healthy lifestyles. 

Annabel adds “We spend a lot of time thinking about what happens between activities, because those moments can be some of the most challenging for learners. A corridor isn’t necessarily just somewhere to walk through. It might be where someone needs to pause, regulate or even continue learning. Understanding those behaviours changes how you think about the whole building.” 

The needs of staff are equally important. Specialist education environments can be demanding places to work, often involving high levels of individual support. Providing staff somewhere to step away, whether a quiet retreat, a comfortable workspace or a café-style communal area, contributes to an environment that supports everyone. 

These considerations demonstrate why SEND design cannot be reduced to a standard set of specifications. The real value comes from understanding how people move through, interact with, and experience a building across the entire day. 

Adapt, refurbish or rebuild? Making more of the existing estate 

With increasing pressure to expand SEND provision, there is a growing need to consider how existing education buildings can be adapted rather than automatically looking to new construction. Refurbishment and repurposing can create specialist facilities within established education settings, potentially supporting greater integration with mainstream provision while making more effective use of existing assets. 

However, converting an existing building into a successful SEND environment is rarely straightforward and needs to be carefully considered. Buildings originally designed for different purposes may require substantial upgrades to meet current technical and regulatory requirements, particularly around fire safety, ventilation, acoustics and accessibility. The Department for Education’s school building design guidance provides useful technical references, but the specific requirements of each building and its intended use still need to be carefully assessed. 

For Saunders, understanding what an existing building can realistically accommodate is an essential part of the design process. The requirements identified through consultation must be considered alongside the opportunities and limitations of the building itself. From a construction perspective, AIS’s experience highlights the importance of validating existing conditions before designs and budgets become too firmly established. 

Early technical investigations can identify where building fabric, structures, mechanical and electrical services or life-safety systems may need improvement to support the proposed use. These findings can significantly influence design development, construction planning and the overall investment required, helping education providers make more informed decisions about whether refurbishment represents the most appropriate solution. 

Adam Douglas, Project Director at AIS, explains “When you’re adapting an existing building, you need to understand what you’re working with before you can make informed decisions about what it could become. The earlier we investigate the building, identify the technical requirements and bring the right consultants into the conversation, the better placed everyone is to understand the scope, the risks and the investment needed.” 

Retaining and adapting existing buildings can also offer sustainability benefits by reducing the need for new construction and making better use of established education estates. The challenge is ensuring that reuse delivers an environment that is genuinely fit for purpose, rather than simply accommodating additional learners within the space available. 

From understanding the brief to delivering the solution

The complexity of specialist education environments makes collaboration between architects, contractors and education providers particularly important. Design decisions that respond to sensory needs, supervision requirements, or individual learning experiences can have significant implications for construction, cost, maintenance and long-term operation. Bringing these perspectives together early allows potential challenges to be explored while the design is still evolving. 

This approach is central to the ongoing collaboration between Saunders and AIS on a specialist education project. Saunders began by undertaking detailed consultation to understand the needs of learners, educators and support staff, identifying what worked within existing environments and where improvements were needed. These findings helped shape the brief, informing decisions about the types of spaces required, how learners move between activities and the importance of balancing sensory comfort, supervision, durability and independence. 

For AIS, the next stage involves translating these requirements into a practical delivery approach. Through the Pre-Construction Services Agreement (PCSA) process, AIS is working alongside Saunders and specialist consultants to assess the existing building, coordinate technical requirements and develop greater certainty around costs and construction planning. 

The project involves adapting an existing building within an operational college environment, bringing additional considerations around building compliance, services, access and the management of construction activity. Early investigations have helped the team identify the extent of improvements required to support the proposed use, allowing these requirements to be incorporated into the developing design and cost plan. 

The collaboration is supported by regular design coordination meetings involving AIS, Saunders and specialist consultants, including fire engineering, mechanical and electrical services and acoustics. This creates opportunities to review emerging findings collectively and ensure that technical decisions remain aligned with the needs established through consultation. 

For education providers working within defined funding arrangements, this early engagement can be particularly valuable. Understanding the likely scope, risks and costs before progressing to construction supports more informed investment decisions and helps reduce the potential for unexpected changes later. 

Adam adds “Early collaboration gives everyone a much clearer picture of what we’re trying to achieve and what it’s going to take to get there. By bringing the architect, contractor and specialist consultants together from the beginning, we can work through the technical challenges alongside the design, rather than discovering them when it’s too late to make meaningful changes.” 

The practicalities of construction are also considered early. With the project situated within a wider college estate, AIS has developed a logistics approach that considers site access, separation of construction activities and the continued operation of surrounding educational facilities. 

Although the project remains in pre-construction, the approach demonstrates how consultation, specialist design knowledge and practical delivery expertise can work together to inform better decisions. Rather than treating design and construction as separate stages, the emphasis is on developing a shared understanding of what learners need, what the building can accommodate and how the project can be delivered successfully. 

Creating environments that work today and tomorrow 

The demand for SEND provision is unlikely to be addressed through a single approach to design or construction. Some education providers will require new facilities, while others will need to rethink and adapt the buildings they already have. In either case, success depends on understanding the people who will use these environments and ensuring that specialist requirements are considered from the earliest stages. 

Learning approaches, student populations and support requirements can change over time. Creating environments that are adaptable, maintainable and capable of evolving is essential to achieving long-term value. For Saunders Architects and AIS, the opportunity lies in bringing specialist design knowledge and practical delivery expertise together, supported by meaningful consultation with learners, educators and the wider school community. 

Ultimately, better SEND environments start with better conversations. By listening more closely, collaborating earlier and making more informed decisions about the spaces we already have, the sector can create places that support learning, independence and wellbeing for years to come. 

AIS and Saunders Architects + Urban Design will be exhibiting together at The School & Academies Show on stand G3 where visitors can continue the conversation about designing and delivering specialist education environments.