FNI has been recently selected as the planning and design consultants for the following projects. Significantly, FNI has expanded its reach with work at the national level in Azerbaijan and the Cayman Islands, district-wide levels in Victoria, Australia, Rhode Island and Florida.

The projects in Wyoming, USA and Phuket, Thailand involve the development of a master plan for a whole new community that integrates learning seamlessly from home to neighborhood to school. The Cayman Islands, Detroit and Victoria projects are being developed on a national/regional scale and are an integral part of bold, new educational reform initiatives by the government.

All the projects are noted for their highly innovative education approach. Projects in the Cayman Islands, Detroit and Victoria are utilizing the school building process as an important catalyst to completely revamp educational practice. A majority of the projects on the list are utilizing FNI’s unique Educational Facilities Effectiveness Instrument (EFEI). Duke School which began as a “lab school” associated with Duke University 40 years ago is working with FNI to create a model school for the 21^st century. FNI has been recruited to ensure that these “new paradigm” schools and/or school development programs can help create facilities that fully support each community’s strong student-centered educational mission.

• The Cayman Islands – Planning & Design Consultation for 3 New High Schools; Master Planning for all schools in the Country; Comprehensive Professional Development for teachers; Assessment of the Tertiary Education Facilities; EFEI Assessment of all schools in the country
• Sinarmas Group, Jakarta, Indonesia – New International K-12 school for 1,300 students
• Middletown Schools, Rhode Island – District-wide master planning for all schools in the district
• Detroit Public Schools – Curriculum Management Planning, EFEI Assessment across the school district
• New Zealand Ministry of Education – Pilot EFEI Assessment Program with potential to be scaled up nationally
• Porirua College near Wellington, New Zealand: New school for community with majority Maori and Pasifika population
• Broward County Career/Adult Education – Development of district-wide standards
• Country of Azerbaijan – Development of national school facilities standards
• Bendigo, Victoria, Australia: Planning and Design Consultation services for 4 new high schools
• Western Heights College, Victoria, Australia – New consolidated campus for college with an integrated Community Center in Geelong
• Broadmeadows, Victoria, Australia – Master Planning work for the Region + Planning and design consultation work for two primary schools and two secondary schools
• Horizons Learning Community – New learning community of homes, a town center and a learning center for pre-K through 12th grade students in Phuket, Thailand
• Mayfield Primary School – Redevelopment of an existing primary school as a world-class learning community in Launceston, Tasmania
• Rocherlea Primary School – Redevelopment work to renovate and upgrade an existing school in Launceston, Tasmania
• Bramha Valley School – Set on a beautiful hillside overlooking a pristine lake in Munshi Valley, Pune, India
• Greater Good Academy – Master planning for new campus
• Rafflles Girls School – Futures workshop as a prelude to the development of a new campus for this prestigious school in Singapore
• Tsunami Reconstruction – Vocational Schools in Sri Lanka
  • multiple facilities, up to 14 schools, emphasis on sustainable architecture
• Dalyellup Secondary College – New Government School in Western Australia
• Scotch Oakburn College, Tasmania, Australia, New Middle School, Senior Student Center and Physical Education Center
• Australia/Singapore: Planning & Design Workshops on the Development of New Paradigm School Facilities for government departments in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Ministry of Education, Singapore
• Kingston High School: Project Consultation Work and feasibility study for the relocation of Kingston High School to a new Greenfield site
• Albuquerque: Planning Workshops for a new High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Los Lunas: Planning workshops for a new primary school in New Mexico
• Streetsboro Ohio: Educational Master Planning Consultation Services for new Mixed Use Town Project in Streetsboro, Ohio
• New College, University of Southern Florida – University Housing & Student Center
• Whitney Village, Wyoming – Planning and design for new mixed use residential community where learning is the central theme

The Language of School Design, by Nair and Fielding. Provides a complete and coherent graphic vocabulary for planning and designing tomorrow’s schools based on international best-practice principles. Available now!

Randall Fielding continued his ground breaking work in February 2006 in Sri Lanka. Fielding is helping with the development of innovative new vocational community learning centers to replace traditional schools damaged by the Tsunami.

Fielding is now preparing for a new adventure in Azerbaijan in May 2006 where he will be working at the national level to develop world class facilities standards for that country. Following the visit to Azerbaijan, Fielding will also visit Victoria and Tasmania to work alongside his partner Nair on several projects in these two states.

Dr. Jeff Lackney has been leading the design effort for a project that could set a new standard for “world class”. The Duke School has set itself the goal of being the first 10-10 in the world (“10” for education supported by a “10”-level educational campus). Lackney is FNI’s managing principal for the Greater Good Academy project in Indianapolis and also working as a key design principal on several other FNI projects including Horizons Learning Center in Phuket, Scotch Oakburn College and Wesley College in Australia and the Broward County Career and Adult Education project.

In February and March 2006, Prakash Nair set sail for distant shores once again. This time, his Australia sojourn included visits to New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Nair conducted workshops (including one with the Director General of Education in NSW, a session with the Education 2020 group in Victoria, work with the Future Provisions group in South Australia and meetings with senior officials in the Director General’s office in WA. He also started work on an exciting new project in Tasmania – The Sustainable Futures Inquiry Center. His trip also included stops in Phuket, Thailand to work on a new planned community and Singapore to advise the Raffles Girls School about the development of a new campus.

Prakash Nair spent most of October and early November in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Singapore working closely with government departments and private school clients on the development of new paradigm school facilities. During the trip, Nair conducted numerous workshops for government officials, community groups, educators, private school councils, and professional organizations. He will be returning to Australia and Singapore in February and March 2006 to continue the important work of progressive educational reform in many different communities in the two countries.

Prakash Nair presented the keynote address and facilitated a school planning workshop at the Annual Conference of the Australian/Asian Region of the Council of Educational Facilities Planners International from April 20th to April 22nd 2005. The conference, titled Architects and Educators Working Together, was held in Hobart, Tasmania.

Randy Fielding recently completed a highly successful two-week speaking tour of Singapore and Australia in September 2004. Randy was invited to present new ideas for 21st century school planning and design by the Singapore Ministry of Education, The LETA Organization and the Government of South Australia in Adelaide, the Association of Independent Schools in Brisbane, the University of Queensland and the Department of Education in Western Australia, Perth.

Prakash Nair and Dr. Jeff Lackney applied the innovative “Open Space” conferencing technique to conduct their Educational Transformations workshop at the Pacific Northwest Regional conference of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International. This highly interactive session was very well received by all conference attendees. The CEFPI event was held at the Alyeska Resort near Anchorage in July 2004. For more information about Open Space, contact prakash@designshare.com.

FNI has a special relationship with the National Academy Foundation with principals Fielding and Nair speaking at several NAF events over the past few years. This year, Randy Fielding presented key connections between academy programs and the spaces they occupy at his well-attended presentation held at the NAF National Conference in New York City in July 2004.