海角视频

Boroughmuir High School

Edinburgh, UK

Located on a site in Edinburgh鈥檚 Fountainbridge, the new, award winning Boroughmuir High School accommodates up to 1,165 pupils.

Situated in the western part of the city centre, the school is in the heart of the Fountain Quay regeneration area, and is bounded by the Union Canal, Gibson Terrace and Dundee Street. The historically significant site has a long industrial history, and has previously been home to both brewing and manufacturing businesses. The area had been vacant for a number of years before plans were announced to build a new school and housing for the local community.

海角视频 was commissioned to deliver a number of services for the new school, which aspired to create exceptional teaching facilities within a bustling city centre location.

海角视频 devised a comprehensive strategy to optimise the building’s energy efficiency

Low carbon technologies include a gas fired CHP system and photovoltaic panels for on-site electrical generation

Boroughmuir High School is an exemplary new facility set within a compact urban site in Edinburgh

The holistic atrium design provides natural ventilation, daylight and smoke extract to the heart of the building

Space was maximised through an optimised structural grid with PT slabs and locating a multi use games area on the roof the games hall

Challenge

The school鈥檚 location in a busy site presented particular challenges in terms of noise, air quality and over shadowing. The design team needed to deliver innovative architectural and engineering solutions to achieve the desired exemplar environment for pupils and their teachers.

A key challenge for our fire engineering team was developing a fire strategy for the large, open plan central atrium. We needed to work closely with the school鈥檚 management team to ensure the safety of the students within the building.

Solution

To ensure Boroughmuir High School encouraged learning while combating the urban surroundings, we designed the indoor climate to exceed good practice for thermal comfort in a naturally ventilated building. Heat and electricity are now generated on site via a gas fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit, supplemented by high efficiency boilers and photovoltaic panels. Energy demand has been minimised by ensuring high levels of natural daylight and ventilation, while heat loss was limited by optimising the building envelope to reduce energy wastage.

Maximising the potential of the constrained site, the school includes a rooftop playing area and garden area above the sports hall, which can be accessed from upper levels in the building. The light open spaces are conducive to study, while the building鈥檚 excellent environmental credentials further cement its success.

Our team devised a complex fire strategy that worked alongside the open plan central atrium. We carefully planned escape strategies in line with the architectural development to compliment the open plan nature of the building and optimise the means of escape between rooms, communal areas and stair cores.

We took a level-headed approach to the BREEAM assessment of the building, ensuring the credits that offered greatest value for money were targeted. The building achieved an EPC B+ rating, discounting the contribution of renewal energy sources, and BREEAM 鈥榁ery Good鈥�.

Value

The new school provides high quality, purpose-built teaching and communal spaces which respond to modern educational demands. The success of Boroughmuir鈥檚 design earned the team two Edinburgh Architectural Association awards in 2018, 鈥楤uilding of the Year鈥� and 鈥楲arge Project鈥�, demonstrating the quality of the learning environment for pupils and teachers.