Monifieth Learning Campus

Acoustic Design & Testing – Monifieth Learning Campus

Client: Angus Council

Architect: Norr

Project value: £66.5m

Project team: Richard Mackenzie, Scott Tunnah, Russell Macdonald

Awards:

Nominated for Development of the Year (public buildings), Scottish Property Awards 2025

Angus Council funded a £66.5 million capital investment on its first large-scale Passivhaus school to replace an existing end-of-life high school. The innovative project is part of Phase Two of the national Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP2).

The Monifieth Learning Campus design was developed to meet stringent Passivhaus requirements. The highly energy-efficient building has an optimised passive design and follows fabric-first principles. This minimises heat loss and solar gain, resulting in very low energy demand, while giving the pupils, teachers and community a high level of comfort. This, and other design elements, will support and enhance the experience of learners.

The Campus offers an enhanced learning and teaching experience for 1,200 young people that embraces sustainable design and provides community access and opportunities. The key guiding principles for the project are sustainability, equity of access, nurture, inclusion and flexible spaces. These will help the council meet its ambitions to transition to Net Zero carbon and align to the principles of the Angus Schools for the Future programme.

The Campus has a three-story main block with a single-story block to house the pool and plant accommodation. The main block houses large spaces in the centre of the plan including an assembly hall, games and dining hall, with a gym, dance studio and drama studios also being located centrally. Teaching spaces and administration offices wrap around the big spaces with efficient circulation between.

The building also incorporates an Early Years facility and a large ASN (Additional Support Needs) zone, seamlessly integrated into the design, both with designated outdoor space. Roof lights flood natural light into the central areas via the double and triple height spaces.

Angus Council’s goal has been to provide a state-of-the-art facility that will be fully used all year round. As part of this, new facilities and amenities will be available to the community, including a swimming pool, athletics area to Sport Scotland standards, and sports pitches (synthetic and natural).

Angus Council commissioned RMP to provide full acoustic design and testing consultancy for the Campus. RMP’s Noise Impact Assessment for the Local authority included a site survey, advice and noise modelling to cover the noise impact of the sports pitches and plant noise as part of the planning application and resultant noise management plan.

RMP then worked with the design team from RIBA stage 2 to completion. Deliverable included a RIBA Stage 3 & 4 acoustic design reports, site visits and inspections as well as continual support responding to acoustic design queries where they arose.

As the school was a Passivhaus design, a particular acoustic challenge was the design and prediction of internal mechanical services noise to achieve BB93 criteria. RMP undertook a detailed assessment and review of proposed internally mounted MVHR and ducted AHU systems to ensure internal ambient noise levels were in line with BB93 criteria.

RMP also heavily utilised ODEON Ray Tracing Room acoustics software to predict reverberation times throughout all areas of the school to a high level of precision. This allowed for optimisation of absorption placement and specification while ensuring compliance with the BB93 criteria for reverberation times in classrooms, SEN areas and open plan teaching spaces.