Flexible Classroom Design — Movable Walls for Schools & Universities

Modern educational buildings are designed to support a wide range of teaching and learning activities — from traditional whole-class teaching to small group work, collaborative projects and independent study. Movable acoustic walls allow the physical environment to be adapted to support different activities, creating spaces that can change as quickly as the teaching approach. This flexibility is increasingly required by schools and universities as they move away from fixed, single-purpose classroom layouts.

UK schools are governed by BB93 (Building Bulletin 93), which sets out acoustic performance requirements for educational buildings. For classrooms separated by a movable acoustic wall, BB93 typically requires an Rw of 45–52 dB, depending on the room use and background noise levels. Meeting BB93 requirements is essential for new school buildings and refurbishments. ModernGlide can provide acoustic performance data for all systems to assist acoustic consultants in confirming compliance.

In primary schools, movable acoustic walls are commonly used to divide large open-plan learning areas into individual classrooms. This allows the school to create a large combined space for whole-year-group assemblies, performances and collaborative activities, while providing individual classrooms for structured teaching. The ability to create acoustic separation between adjacent classrooms is essential to prevent noise from one class disturbing another.

Secondary schools use movable walls to create flexible spaces for different subject areas. Science, technology and art departments benefit from the ability to combine spaces for practical sessions and open them up for collaborative projects. Sixth form and study areas can be divided to create quiet study rooms or combined for group activities. Drama and performing arts spaces particularly benefit from the ability to create different room configurations for rehearsals, performances and teaching.

Universities and higher education institutions use movable acoustic walls to create flexible lecture theatres, seminar rooms and collaborative learning spaces. Large lecture theatres can be divided into smaller seminar rooms for tutorials, or combined for large-cohort lectures. The ability to reconfigure spaces between different uses — without building work or significant disruption — is a major advantage for universities managing complex timetabling requirements.

In school and university environments, movable walls must be easy to operate by teaching staff without specialist assistance. The ModernGlide MG100 and MG200 systems are designed for easy single-person operation. Panels move smoothly along the overhead track and the acoustic seals engage automatically when the panel reaches its final position. For applications where the wall needs to be opened and closed frequently, the fully electric MG100E system is available.

For primary and secondary schools, the MG100 (Rw up to 59 dB) and MG200 (Rw up to 49 dB) are the most commonly specified systems. For universities and colleges where glazed partitions are preferred, the MG500 (Rw up to 42 dB) provides a glazed solution with good acoustic performance. All systems can be specified to meet BB93 acoustic requirements with appropriate panel specification.