Primary Space, Dalry School, North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire Council is building a new school in Dalry which is involving artists in the design process. The project is aimed at developing a process whereby artists will be included in the ongoing design of new school buildings in North Ayrshire.
The project has been inspired by and follows on from the successful ‘Wonderwall – School as a Rule’ project. Artist Bruce MacLean, writer Mel Gooding and architect Will MacLean worked together on the new primary school at Lawthorn, Irvine. The Scottish Arts Council supported the project with a £92,273 Lottery Capital award through the Artists Work in Public Places scheme in 1999.
Externally the school is designed to present a simple geometric outline that follows the form of the elevated sloping site. The school is conceived as a collection of houses; each house is ascribed a particular function or theme.
The houses are grouped in three clusters;
- Communal areas that will be used by the wider community, such as the dining hall
- The functional spine, such as kitchens, offices and toilets
- Learning houses, which are class rooms and specialist teaching areas accessible only for school use.
The project places particular importance in the class rooms which have been developed in direct consultation with teachers. Each of the 14 class rooms will contain unique features demonstrating the concept of imbedded intelligence into the design and fabric of the space.
Each class room will also feature a unique window imbedded with specific information in the form of shape, magnification, text or image etched on the glass to enhance the window’s use. Each class room will also have a specific ‘ instrument’ for example, a ‘tuned wall’ – a sound box resonator; a wall to amplify the activities of the pupils, including spoken word, music etc.
In this project the artistic team has worked as part of the overall design team. The design of the new school can be seen as truly collaborative from the earliest stages. Artists have been involved from the initial consultation stage through development of the brief to site strategy, building design, fabrication and creating environmental awareness and sustainability. It was out of this collaboration that the ‘Primary Space’ was born.
The Scottish Arts Council supported the project at two different stages:
- A Stage 1 application was approved by the Lottery Capital Committee in July 2002 and awarded a development grant to work the concept up further
- Following the development phase, a Stage 2 application for a contribution of £165,829 was awarded in January 2004.
These funds represent a 70% contribution towards specific elements of Imbedded Intelligence concept within the overall school design. The lottery awards went towards the elements that formed part of the artists’ design – even though their involvement is implicit in the overall design.
North Ayrshire Council is funding the other 30% for Imbedded Intelligence as well as the other capital costs of building the school.
The project will be monitored and documented carefully. A thorough evaluation will be done to develop learning tools for the future. Currently at the detailed design stage, completion is projected for 2006.
A project website is being developed and will be launched along with a promotional campaign soon.
| For more information visit the Primary Space website | |