ATRIUM, together with MARCH Architecture School, invites your team to join the Designing the School of the Future programme. The course helps architects, designers, consultants and leaders of pedagogical teams develop a systematic approach to educational projects that shape a new quality of social environment for a district, meet current regulatory requirements and standards, and remain relevant for decades.

We believe that the educational environment has a direct impact on a child’s balanced and all-round development.

For ATRIUM, working with educational spaces has long been a separate area of research and design. For more than 20 years, the studio has designed schools, kindergartens, university campuses and public spaces for learning.

The programme is based on ATRIUM’s research book Architecture of Development. Methodology for Designing Modern Schools. The publication brings together the studio’s design experience, an analysis of contemporary schools and the key principles for creating an educational environment that supports different learning scenarios, age groups, types of perception, and both individual and collective work.

The course programme

Participants work with real school case studies and learn how to prepare detailed briefs at the early stages of a project, develop concepts from architectural, economic, pedagogical and other professional perspectives, and turn a school into a point of growth for the entire territory.

The course brings together research and practice. Students move from analysing the task and pedagogical model to developing a functional programme, spatial concept, architectural solution and final project presentation. The work takes into account the daily scenarios of pupils, teachers, administration and parents, as well as the interests of the developer and school operator, operational logic, safety, inclusion, spatial flexibility, the school grounds and the building’s connection to the district.

How the programme is structured

The programme brings together practising architects, education specialists, school directors and operators, experts in development, economics, educational management and technology. This composition makes it possible to approach the school as a complex project in which architectural form, pedagogical model, management logic and the building’s urban role are developed together.

An important part of the course is direct engagement with completed educational buildings and contemporary design approaches. During the programme, students visited the school in the Symbol residential district, School No. 547, Snegiri private school, Letovo boarding school and many other projects.

The programme concludes with the presentation of a product and architectural concept for a school of the future before practising specialists in education, architecture and development.

Voices from the programme

Alexandra Shevtsova, Chief Project Architect at Giprokommundortrans, describes the course as “the most content-rich and structured programme” she has taken:

The course exceeded every possible expectation. It is not only the most content-rich programme, but also the most structured one, giving you the opportunity to understand every stage. The curators and tutors do everything they can to make this happen, explaining everything in detail and sometimes even revealing the secrets of their own work. The idea of bringing together not only architects and designers, but also representatives of developers and education professionals within one course opened up new points of view, new approaches and new areas of growth for me.

Evgenia Khafizova, Public Space Designer at T-BURO, calls the programme “a real breakthrough” in her professional practice:

Studying on the Designing the School of the Future programme became a real breakthrough in my professional practice. I gained a great deal of knowledge, experience and new ideas, which I have already started to apply successfully in my work. My participation in the BEST OFFICE AWARDS 2024 nomination and in the tender for the development of a concept for a general education school in Yekaterinburg confirmed the results of this training. I am confident that, thanks to this programme, I will be able to reach new heights in my career and bring value to my profession.

The experience of our students shows that the programme works as a professional driver and helps participants apply the knowledge they gain to real-world tasks.

The next edition of Designing the School of the Future starts in autumn 2026. Learn more and apply on the MARCH Architecture School website.