31 May 2007
The requirements
The provision of lockers for school children is important to Manchester City Council, more so in recent years with the ownership of goods with re-sale potential such as iPods and mobile phones. With such items not allowed in lessons, the lockers were being broken into and the contents stolen.
Two other main problems were vandalism and the use of the lockers as a modern day ‘test your strength’ game. Manchester City Council interior designer and Furniture Consultant Rik Perkin explains:
“Decorative signage on the existing lockers was being ripped off – numbers, handles, plaques etc. – resulting in holes, which were both unattractive and tempting for those who wished to poke things through them such as lit matches. The lockers were also the recipients of single punches as children pitted against one another to see who could cause the biggest dent. If all this wasn’t enough, the bottom lockers were frequently dealt a swift kick as the children walked past. When we added up the cost of fixing these sorry, beaten-up lockers it was exceptionally high in terms of both cost and time. It simply couldn’t continue.”
Rik Perkin’s role at Manchester City Council is that of an interior designer, and in practice his role is more consultative as he oversees interior works and schemes to ensure they are correct and fit in with the Council’s set plans and objectives. Faced with a locker problem that had to be solved, he started to research the locker industry to see what options were out there.
“I researched extensively and spoke with a number of locker suppliers and manufacturers, including Helmsman,” explains Rik. “I found that Helmsman was extremely willing to talk through the issues and they understood the problems.” Over a period of time, Rik and Helmsman worked together to come up with a locker design unique to Manchester City Council’s needs. “And it really has been a project we’ve worked on together,” continues Rik, pleased that the relationship was so successful.
Testing the lockers
After more than one month of design, a prototype was produced at no charge to Manchester City Council. Helmsman understood that if the locker design wasn’t successful it wasn’t useful so the organisation was pleased to invest their time, as they were confident that their experience, together with Rik’s, would find the solution.
Firstly, the locker was placed in the Council’s ‘Building Schools for the Future test bed centre’ school, Cedar Mount High School on the eastern side of the city. Located in a classroom, the locker showed no signs of damage but, given the environment, Rik felt the locker had perhaps had an easy trial. “Our second test was in another school in the south of the city,” adds Rik. “It was placed in a corridor with lots of passing foot traffic and no CCTV. If it was going to meet a grisly end, that’s where it was going to happen. We left it to its fate!”
However, the locker not only survived but also appeared unscathed. Whatever it had been subjected to, it didn’t leave its mark. Rik was delighted, as were Helmsman. The locker design was then approved and recommended by Manchester City Council. 900 Helmsman Heavy Duty Inset Lockers are installed in a soon-to-open publicly funded school and both Rik and Helmsman will be monitoring its success.
The design answers
The three main problems – the removal of items not integral, the punching and the kicking -found solutions in the design.
Rik’s skills and experience meant that he worked well with Helmsman’s industry knowledge, and the pairing accounted for excellent results.
Firstly, the issue of the lockers being stripped and holes created. “The answer,” explains Rik, “was to remove everything so that nothing could be removed by the children. As these were all items with a purpose, we had to find alternatives.” The main item was numbering – how would anyone know which locker was which if they could not be identified. The solution came in the form of numbers engraved into the solid laminate covering. This in itself had to be not only practical but Disability Discrimination Act compliant. “Red lettering on black sounds simple enough,” continues Rik “but to a visually impaired person the red looks black so the information is indistinguishable.” Finally, black engraving into solid grade laminate worked perfectly and looked great. Typeface and font size had to be right. The hinge plates are not powder coated; the scratching of initials is pointless. Other items that were removed were handles. The idea of a ‘scallop’ was developed, so the door could be pulled open but that left the contents vulnerable to arson. Eventually a finger channel was worked into the locking device. If a lit match were to be poked through it, it would be contained and extinguish without harm.
Secondly, the doors were made of solid grade laminate. If on the receiving end of a punch, a dent is virtually impossible.
Thirdly, the answer to the swift and sly passing kicks to the bottom locker was a triumph of design and psychology. The lockers were built on a 150mm plinth and positioned into an alcove, which was the depth and height of the lockers. This may sound a small deterrent but in reality the positioning of the lower locker now rendered it impossible to effectively kick the centre of the door, the optimum spot for a dent. Damage would only happen if the owner of the offending foot was skilled in martial arts and could muster the height, speed and accuracy to hit the target and had the strength for the extra thick metal. Lacking in adult martial arts experts amid their number, the children were simply beaten by good design.
“Off-the-shelf was not what we needed,” concludes Rik who is understandably proud of this project. “Through research and partnership with Helmsman we have a great product which is now our standard specification. If lockers in Manchester schools are paid for out of capital budget then this is what they get. If they buy them themselves, this is what we recommend and the schools listen to our advice. I’m really pleased with the story so far.”
Likewise, Helmsman has enjoyed the project and is proud of the Heavy Duty Inset locker. “Working with the issues faced by Manchester City Council and Rik Perkin has been not only a good test of our collective experience, but also ended with a satisfyingly good product,” comments John Scott, operations director. “It has been fantastic to see the successful marriage of locker industry expertise and interior design acumen.”
