If your own direct experience of prefab school buildings is largely restricted to structures that may have been designed and erected many years or even decades ago, you could be forgiven for not realising just how profoundly the modular buildings of the 2020s differ. 

So, if you are in a role such as a school administrator or head teacher and you are curious to know more about what today’s modular classrooms represent, here are just some of the ways in which they vary from the often less-than-attractive temporary buildings of the past. 

They can be built quickly with minimal disruption 

Every person reading this can probably agree that there are very few things of greater importance than ensuring students’ education is not avoidably disrupted. 

Thankfully, the processes involved in the design and construction of prefab school buildings have advanced considerably over the last few decades. Today, such buildings can be rapidly constructed off-site, and then brought on-site and made operational at such a pace that pupils and teaching staff will see the buildings ready to use almost immediately.

They look the part in the 2020s 

The prefab school buildings of the more distant past were irrevocably associated with draughtiness, drab décor, and what felt like a generally second-class experience compared to the permanent buildings on the same school estate. If you were a pupil using such spaces, they probably felt like a ‘stopgap’ solution that the school simply forgot to stop using. 

What a contrast that represents next to the modular classrooms of today. The prefabricated school buildings that businesses like MPH Building Systems can provide in the 2020s look sharp and sophisticated, exude a sense of solidity and build quality, and can be integrated with existing school buildings in such an elegant manner, that you might almost forget which elements of the school premises are even ‘prefabs’.

They act the part, too – whether they are temporary or permanent 

Whereas many of the prefab school buildings of yesteryear could almost be said to be ‘accidentally’ permanent structures, today’s modular educational buildings are designed and fabricated with a broad range of scenarios in mind. 

Those scenarios could include longer-term use, if needed – after all, many school administrators turn to modular buildings with low costs and quick construction in mind, rather than necessarily temporary use. 

Equally, though, if circumstances and requirements do change – as they could in a short space of time in the current uncertain environment – modular buildings are designed to be portable and moveable. They allow you to keep your long-term options open for your school estate, without any need to compromise the quality of experience that your institution’s staff and students benefit from right now. 

Has all the above got you inspired about the possibilities that sophisticated prefab buildings could present for your own school in 2023 or beyond? If so, please do not hesitate to call the MPH Building Systems team now, on 01484 430518, or to email us for further information and guidance as you consider the right choices for your school premises.