7 June 2013
'Town Square' school wins Claire prize
Proposals for a primary school driven by the concept of the town square, drawn up by an architecture student from the University of Dundee, have won first place in an environmental design competition
Claire O'Neil, who has just completed the second year of her degree, won the Scottish Ecological Design Association's Krystyna Johnson Award and has received £75 as a prize.
One Year 2 student from each of the five Scottish architecture schools was shortlisted for the award, which examined the entries for evidence of how ecological strategies formed an integral part of the project and how those ideas were subsequently tested.
Claire's winning design was for a new primary on the site of the former Park Place school adjacent to the University campus and demonstrated a variety of high quality and engaging spaces formed as a result of her integrated approach to the design process.
In her proposal, the 'town square' was reimagined as an internal street accommodating the school's library, café and common facilities, whose form and position relate to an historic road that used to run through the site. All school accommodation is connected to this space, and allows classrooms to display work like shop fronts to further emphasise the idea of the town square.
Claire (20), originally from Tillicoutry, said, "The idea of a town square as a social space for the community to gather is the driving concept for this primary school proposal.
"In the design, internal spaces are defined by a series of columns with shutters allowing each space to be inhabited in a variety of ways to enhance the learning experience, which developed in response to ideas of social interaction, group work and flexibility promoted by the Curriculum for Excellence."
Claire's project will be displayed along with the shortlisted entries at the Lighthouse in Glasgow in the Autumn.
The Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA) was formed in 1991. Its primary aim is to share knowledge, skills and experience of ecological design. SEDA is a network and links those seeking information and services with those providing them.
The organisation currently has around 400 members, including academics, architects, artists, builders, planners, students, ecologists, landscape designers, materials suppliers, woodworkers, and many more whose work or interest is concerned with design for a sustainable future.
Architect and SEDA member Sam Foster was one of the competition judges, and praised the winning entry, saying, "Claire's design creates a sense of calmness and order to the range of accommodation required by the brief.
Her clear concept and understanding of how primary school children would use the spaces has resulted in a simple, easily understood plan layout. Clever development of the relationship between pairs of classrooms sets up opportunities for open or closed spaces for a variety of uses and teaching methods.
"The simple, rectilinear layout and equally simple structural rationale has been used as the basis to help organise strategies for daylighting, ventilation, heating and acoustic attenuation.
"All are clearly presented and the various strategies attempt energy-efficient design. Use of colour lends additional visual interest and assists with identification of different classrooms, while 'shopfronts' between classrooms and the covered 'street' show off pupils' work and ensure that anyone who visits the school will see something different each time.
"Claire's extensive use of physical models, photographs of these and the use of 3D computer renderings give a clear impression of the variety of spaces that she has created and what a bright, airy and pleasantly engaging place it would be to go to school!"
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