In a recent episode of the Educators Among Us podcast, Scott Barron, Chief Reinvention Officer with School Growth, hosted Alan Metcalfe, an award-winning designer and founder of Metcalfe Architecture & Design in Philadelphia. Their conversation bridged the worlds of education and architecture, exploring how physical spaces around the campus can become enablers of joy, community connection, and greater learning.
An Impactful Teacher
Alan’s passion for designing schools is deeply personal. He shares how one educator, Margaret Floyd, changed the course of his life:
“She noticed me... and she called me up one day... and said, ‘Now Alan, listen... you could be magna cum laude if you just worked a little harder.’ And I did.” It wasn’t just academic excellence she sparked in him. “She taught me to see and to write,” Alan recalls, crediting her influence for launching his eventual journey from carpenter to architect. Years later, her final lesson came in the form of a missed thank-you note, a reminder of the importance of expressing gratitude before it’s too late.
The Heart and Soul of a School
This conversation significantly focused on the belief that school design most accurately centers on people. Alan and Scott agree that schools are more than buildings…they’re communities that need inspiring design to support the mission and strategies.
“Every school has a heart and soul,” Scott emphasizes. “And we can actually design spaces that convey that opportunity as well as that hope.”
Alan built on this by highlighting his firm’s interpretive master planning approach, which starts with the people who live, work, and learn in a school. “The biggest challenge in education right now? It’s community,” Alan asserts. “What do you need? How do you feel? These are the questions we ask staff, students, and families.”
Inspiration of Music
Music also is an important part of Alan’s journey. Scott noted that Alan’s guitar is a regular travel companion. Music isn’t just a hobby for him—it’s a metaphor for collaboration:
“When you’re improvising ... you’re only 25% of what’s going on. It teaches me to cooperate and listen. Music, like school design, is a conversation.”
Scott echoed this by noting that schools must be more than function: “There’s also a harmony you’re trying to create within a school...a building can be a canvas for harmony.”
The Art of Listening and Joy
Throughout the conversation, one message rang clear: meaningful school design starts with listening and culminates in beauty and joy.
“Joy,” Alan says, “makes your building memorable. It’s something unique about your school, your community.”
Scott concluded with heartfelt appreciation for Alan’s work, noting how their collaboration through School Growth and Metcalfe Architecture & Design has produced campus designs that have advanced culture and economic success:
“We are trying to develop a school in a new era of education. And so it’s exciting to be a part of that journey...to figure it out together.”
