Scottish Government

Client's Perspective

The Council's ethos is that pupils are likely to work well in safe, warm and dry conditions that provide a stimulating and attractive environment. Morale is higher when staff can focus on pupil needs rather than on building problems. The ability to attract and retain quality staff is also enhanced by the provision of good quality buildings. Parents can make better judgments about a school's effectiveness when not distracted by building maintenance issues.

The consultation with stakeholders allowed plans to be developed that reflected their needs both as a school and a community. Visits were carried out to other schools, both in Scotland and England, and particular attention was paid to the design and functionality of specialist rooms and this is reflected in the specialist provision provided. A number of ICT rich classrooms have been placed in strategic location throughout the school to enable teachers to adopt a more flexible approach where appropriate.

Inverclyde's desire to place children at the centre with adults surrounding them in a supportive role is reflected in the building's layout. This is further reinforced by co-locating all three aspects of the elements of Pupil Support (behavioural, pastoral care and learning support to maximise effective interworking and is positioned on the ground level beside the hub).

Passive surveillance was a key design issue particularly for the Hub. The architects included low level glazed areas in the corridors and classrooms to help facilitate this, without making supervision overbearing. Further passive supervision is provided by the senior pupils' from their first floor level breakout space. The architects have also worked to ensure there were no blind spots.

A great deal of time and effort was spent on subject relationships and where best each department should be positioned within the school to provide the optimum environmental conditions. This was also considered during visits to schools, hopefully picking out the successful associations, for example the library positioned next to the English wing and Maths and Science subjects being located together.

In response to a request, a pupil-friendly display system was installed to demonstrate the effects of the wind and solar systems, and also to monitor the rates of imported electricity the school used. As an education tool children are able to log on to the display from any networked school computer.

Architect's Perspective

The school is made up of three distinct architectural forms. The administration and sports wing traverses and cranks East to West across the site, and two distinct teaching wings intersect it in a 'tuning fork' arrangement. The teaching wings internally embrace the school library at first floor level and externally define a sheltered landscaped playground between them. The bulk of the school was positioned as far as possible away from the noisy road and rail route. The main entrance is positioned on the north east end of the school and is orientated away from the prevailing wind which comes up the valley and is further sheltered by the 'spine' of administrative and support accommodation.

Once inside the entrance, you are at the 'heart' of the school, a double height social space flooded with daylight with flexible seating and IT touchdown areas. It also accommodates the lockers and pupils toilets and is the circulation hub offering clear way finding and access to the main wings of the school. A series of spaces adjoin and overlook this central volume and includes the double height dining space, reception and control, deputy heads office, the school library and other first floor social breakout spaces.

On a practical level the openness of the space ensures that natural surveillance of it and its adjoining spaces is maximised. It is for that reason the toilets and lockers, areas often traditionally associated with unsociable behaviour, are located here, ensuring they are effectively supervised.

Internally each wing has a colour to act as a stimulus and a marker. This includes toilets, key spaces, classrooms and furniture. Colour selection has also been influenced by the requirements of pupils with special needs. This along with accessibility throughout the building, specially equipped classrooms, changing and washroom facilities, provision of tutorial space for smaller group teaching, and a sound field has created a stimulating and inclusive learning environment.

Users' Perspective

The pupils love their new building with the social area proved very popular - separate cafeteria facilities, for the S5/6 year on the first floor, above the hub, gives senior pupils an alternative dining space where they can socialise away from the younger pupils. This is a versatile space which can also be used for serving food and drinks at functions in the Assembly Hall.

The library space has been successful in developing relationships with parents who can meet teachers in a less formal setting than an office. The space can also be used for holding interviews or developing group working, and is a convenient, accessible resource for the adjacent English department.

Community use

The whole school is available for community use - particularly popular are the astroturf pitch, and fitness facilities, while community groups are now starting to show an interest in the recording studio. Facilities are for school use until 6pm then open for community let between 6-10pm weekdays and weekends.

The principal PE teacher at one of the former schools has now noticed an increased attendance in the basketball club since moving to the new facilities. The fitness rooms are reported as being well used by staff and the Council are also using the facilities at the school to accommodate meetings. The local Community Officer has introduced classes in modern languages and this has been well received.

General Evaluation of Building

In recent years, Inverclyde Council has invested extensively in education, and this commitment is increasingly apparent in its school building programme. Inverclyde Academy is a large secondary school that accommodates around 1000 pupils from the former Wellington and Greenock High Schools in one new campus on a brown-field site adjacent to the rundown Ravenscraig athletics stadium. The Council is in the process of renovating the athletics stadium and playing fields, and this will eventually be shared between the Academy and the new PPP primary school which is under construction at the other end of the site.

The school itself is similar in design philosophy to Newark Primary, but on a much larger scale and was designed and delivered by the same team. It was the architect's opinion that to produce a successful school project you require a long lead in time - in Inverclyde's case this was around 4 years - and the extended consultation gave the opportunity to fully engage with users. The Head Teacher reported that one of the key factors in arriving at a solution that works for everyone was communication and seeking out opportunities for the two schools to work together. In this case, the consultation resulted in a solution that largely meets the needs of all involved.

The school boasts extensive community provision, from a fully equipped gym, that could rival any health club, the well equipped theatre, with make-up, dressing and wardrobe rooms, to a model room for the technical department to a laundry and individual accessible toilets, which provides those pupils with additional educational needs greater freedom and privacy than in a traditional school environment.

Classrooms are large (around 65 m ²), well day lit and mainly naturally ventilated, assisted by passive ducts in the classroom ceilings and linear louvers integrated into the walls and roof structure, which form a feature of the building. This, combined with the bold use of colour used to designate each wing/ department and to guide the building's user's makes for a cheerful, bright and airy environment. Achieving natural light and ventilation in a large building over multiple floors can be problematic. Here 'floating' corridors, attached to the classrooms by bridges, allow daylight to penetrate the lower floors and assist the stack effect ventilation. The principle is similar to that used in Newark, but on a larger scale.

In terms of sustainability, the building is designed perhaps more for low energy in use, and longevity rather than focussing heavily on materials and this may be the reason why it did not achieve the highest possible BREEAM rating. However, it sensitively re-uses an existing site, paying close attention to orientation to avoid over/ under-heating and is located at the heart of an existing community, and it could be argued that it may outlast some of its more 'sustainable' rivals. Most importantly the pupils love the school, attendance is excellent, and although only occupied since December 2008, there are already signs that this amount of investment in people pays dividends in terms of learning and attitude overall.

Lessons Learned

The school is built on raised access floors, which mean the layout can be reconfigured. This would be helpful in a number of different scenarios, if the need to relocate department arose or to change classroom size.

Lessons learned from previous projects taught the client to use more cost effective ways of maintaining the aesthetic appearance of the school by painting the top of the walls (above head height) with gloss paint to reflect the light, whilst the lower level areas are painted with matt so they can be repainted and touched up easily.

Many materials were considered and rejected during design and construction, one example was the use of marmoleum sheet flooring (a Green guide A rated product) which was preferred for the majority of floor finishes, but unresolved concerns over slip resistance meant that, despite large mat-wells, in some areas where the hazard was considered too great this had to be omitted and ultimately replaced with a vinyl product.

The school moved over 4 days in term time. The Council stresses it is important not to "take the building from the contractors too early" - as if there are still significant snagging problems this can mean users start with a negative impression from the outset.

It is evident that the Council have learned a lot from this project. The Council's School Estate team includes a balance of different disciplines and the Council formed a strong relationship with the design team. The close working relationship with all involved meant that when challenges arose everyone stood together.