Excellent school designs can better support teachers in delivering a dynamic curriculum that prioritises not only a pupil's core skills in literacy and numeracy but also assists in the development of a young person's essential interpersonal social skills, self-confidence, and knowledge. In this respect, we have designed exemplary schools with adaptable learning environments where pupils can ‘learn to learn’.
Our school design for Ness Primary addresses the needs of the 21st century learner by detailing spaces that are both well-structured and adaptable as well as facilitating teaching staff to deliver more creative lessons.
Ness Castle is a district to the south of Inverness prioritised for expansion. With approval granted for hundreds of new homes, Stallan-Brand has delivered a new primary school to fulfil the education requirement. It is anticipated that the school roll will reach circa 975 as the local population grows. The practice has therefore designed a 24 classroom primary and nursery school.
Our design acknowledges the Highland Council’s aspirations to move away from segregated learning and create flexible teaching spaces internally and externally.
Our plan diagram for Ness Primary is informed by a 'three-cluster' classroom arrangement that locates the learning on the building's southern edge to take advantage of the open aspect and views. The building's form factor was also carefully modelled to achieve a balance of efficiency and minimise heat loss.
The architecture of the school is intentionally robust and responds to the client's brief that the building should have a 'long life and loose fit' design to respond to future changes in the curriculum. The building given its rural setting has an 'agricultural' aesthetic with simple unadorned walls and large openings.
