The Schoolyard I’d Like: an ideas competition for Australian school children ages 12 to 17

Restorative outdoor environments are places that allow a person to rest and rebuild their capacity to function. Schoolyard design provides an ideal opportunity to create spaces that provide respite for students during the school day. However, the outdoor environmental preferences of adolescents have not been fully explored. This Australian-based study uses qualitative methods to analyse the schoolyard designs of thirty-eight students ages 12 to 17 through the lens of restorative environment theories. The aim is to identify and define indicators of schoolyard design quality and impact as defined by students themselves. Findings reveal that students desire schoolyards which are an antidote to daily academic and social stresses. Of particular focus are spaces designed for peer engagement and self-renewal. Student measures of schoolyard quality are framed through attributes of beauty, agency and social connection. Schoolyard design is often driven by industry standards of minimising risk, cost and without input from students. Our analysis suggests that these outdoor spaces should be more responsive to end-user aesthetic preferences, social values, and environmental concerns that promote student restoration. Such information would benefit designers, managers and users of schoolyard spaces to ensure co-designed spaces meet student restorative needs.