Carlibar Primary School Community Campus

Carlibar Primary School Community Campus delivers educational facilities that enhance the lives of the pupils, staff and community. The high quality, site-specific design enhances the surrounding community environment. The proposal was directly driven by the desire to provide a safe, stimulating and comfortable environment for all building users.

Date

2006

Client

East Renfrewshire Council

Value

£8.7m

Carlibar Primary School Community Campus has been designed as a new build facility to accommodate pupils from an existing school (Carlibar Primary) and to provide a new Family Centre, a Pre-School Assessment and Development Unit (PSADU), a Language and Communication Unit (CCC) and community and adult learning services. The brief was to design and construct a facility with civic presence that would reflect the aspirations of the council in relation to attainment, achievement and inclusion.

The design brief required a low energy, naturally ventilated building with a high BREEAM Schools rating. Internally, Carlibar Primary School Community Campus is organised around a gymnasium, dining street facility and dance studio. These three facilities can be connected for special events. The school plan is used to facilitate ease of circulation, with the double-height dining area acting as an orientation point for the school as a whole.

The Challenge

The old school building was in poor condition and was not suitable to meet the curricular needs of the specialist units within the school. Redevelopment on the original site was not viable and so a new site within existing mature parkland, which already housed a community facility was selected.

The Solution

The new building has been positioned to minimise its impact on the site by reusing as far as possible the area of the site that has already been developed, and to minimise the number of trees that would have to be felled during construction.

The Outcome

The high quality, site-specific design enhances the surrounding community environment and provides a safe, stimulating and comfortable environment for all pupils and building users. The level of consultation with the school and liaison with the head teacher was considerable at all stages, and the success of the building is due to the adoption of a fully integrated approach.