West Calder High School

Client: HUB South East Scotland / West Lothian Council

Architect: Norr architects

Contractor: Morrison Construction

Project value: £32 million

Project team: Dr Elena Prokofieva, Richard Mackenzie

The multi award winning West Calder High School is West Lothian Council’s largest ever single investment in education and includes a swimming pool, floodlit 3G sports pitch, and sports facilities for school and community use.

The £32m 1,100 capacity secondary school was successfully completed in 2018 is genuinely at the cutting edge of education design in Scotland, matching West Lothian Council’s desire to transform the educational journey for its pupils. Based on innovative teaching and learning methodologies, re-imagining how a new building can better support modern learner demands, the new school has been designed with the pupil experience at the core, as well as providing facilities accessible to the local community.

The building takes a dynamic angular form over a deep, naturally lit plan grouped around a central performance space. Split-level sections provide a rich series of interconnected learning spaces. The design features open plan or multi-purpose spaces, complete with technology to facilitate the school’s “Inspired Learning” model. When opening the new building, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he “had not seen a better school anywhere else in the world.”

As a project it has been a true collaboration, with this successful joint working resulting in the new school being delivered on time and within budget, whilst ensuring a wide range of local community benefits throughout.

RMP were commissioned as the project acoustic consultant to ensure excellent teaching environments are created in terms of ambient noise levels, sound insulation and reverberation. Working closely with the project team, RMP provided detailed design advice during construction phase and compliance testing to ensure West Calder High School successfully met the requirements of BB93.

Awards

2019 Education Buildings Scotland Awards, Project of the Year
2018 Education Buildings Scotland Awards, Pupil/Student Experience (Finalist)
2018 Partnership Bulletin Silver Award, Best Social Infrastructure Project
2017 Education Buildings Scotland, Inspiring Learning Spaces

Images courtesy of HUB South East Scotland.