Anti-Covid school furniture: here are the outdoor classrooms designed by Dimcar

What if school desks moved outdoors, perhaps into the greenery, to let students breathe fresh air and overcome the challenge of social distancing? It would be wonderful, we told ourselves, and it would help us overcome many of the concerns accompanying the organization of this unprecedented school year. A minute later, we were already at work to make our idea a reality. And today we are ready to present it to you: here is Abacus, the first outdoor classroom by Dimcar.

Abacus, an anti-Covid solution for outdoor learning

In every way a covered and shaded outdoor classroom, capable of accommodating tables, desks, and benches for school activities. A concrete and immediately available school furnishing tool that we designed to ensure compliance with anti-Covid health protocols and which, at the same time, is also a true educational method already successfully tested in many countries around the world: outdoor learning—teaching in the open air—with proven psycho-physical benefits.

What is Abacus? How is it installed? Which schools is it suitable for?

Abacus is a steel structure with vertical support posts, crossbeams, and upper arches made of galvanized steel tubes. A safe, stable, certified solution that is very easy to use and quick to install, capable of guaranteeing a covered space of approximately 16 square meters (total height 300 cm; width/depth 400 x 400 cm) to be dedicated to educational activities.

To make it even easier to use, we created it in two different versions: an inground structure for schools that can take advantage of parks, groves, and green spaces, and a self-supporting structure that can also be placed in paved halls and courtyards.

Why hold lessons outdoors?

The outdoor approach is not only more fun and engaging for children, but it is also a boon for their health and development. And there are many reasons why:

• greater exposure to the sun and fresh air is a valuable source of Vitamin D, improves oxygenation, and strengthens muscles and bones;

• learning involves and stimulates all the senses, fostering the acquisition of soft skills;

• body and movement, intelligence, manual skills, and emotions run and grow together in harmony, promoting children's growth and well-being;

• observation, autonomy, discovery, and socialization are stimulated.

Certainly not least, being outdoors significantly reduces the risks of Covid-19 contagion compared to traditional closed classrooms, while increasing space and the possibilities for distancing between students.

So, if we are talking about a restart for schools as well, why not start this time precisely from the needs of young people, from their need for open and free spaces, and connection with nature?

We have an extraordinary opportunity. To accept change and transform today's necessities into opportunities for tomorrow—when the pandemic has passed, but the need to return long-lost outdoor living times and spaces to childhood remains, along with the chance to grow in a healthier, more sustainable, and conscious way.