Across many international contexts, the design and construction of architecturally different school buildings has become a key strategy in providing innovative learning environments designed to prepare students for work and life in the 21st century. Despite the global popularity of this strategy, research has highlighted persistent challenges associated with the transition to, and occupation of innovative learning environments. We explore the nexus between risk and innovation, reporting on data arising from a primary school in Australia, built as part of one state government’s Private Public Partnership initiatives. We apply a conceptual framework for risk and public service innovation and a responsible innovation framework to investigate how the school leaders and the architect understood the educational intentions, values and risks that shaped their school design and to assess users’ perceptions of their new school. Our findings draw attention to how responses to externally driven design innovation in the complex and dynamic environment of a school can create risk and uncertainty for users on multiple levels. We argue that the application of a responsible innovation framework provides a mechanism to highlight limitations in school design processes and opportunities to improve alignment and on-going adaptation of schools for future conditions.

在许多国际背景下，设计和建造不同建筑的校舍已成为提供创新学习环境的关键策略，旨在为学生在 21 世纪的工作和生活做好准备。尽管这一战略在全球广受欢迎，但研究强调了与创新学习环境的过渡和占领相关的持续挑战。我们探索风险与创新之间的关系，报告来自澳大利亚一所小学的数据，作为某州政府的私人公共合作计划的一部分而建立。我们应用风险和公共服务创新的概念框架和负责任的创新框架来调查学校领导和建筑师如何理解教育意图，影响学校设计的价值观和风险，并评估用户对新学校的看法。我们的研究结果引起了人们对在学校复杂而动态的环境中对外部驱动的设计创新的反应如何在多个层面为用户带来风险和不确定性的关注。我们认为，负责任的创新框架的应用提供了一种机制，可以突出学校设计过程中的局限性以及改善学校对未来条件的调整和持续适应的机会。