LAIRDSLAND PRIMARY SCHOOL
LOCATION : EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE, SCOTLAND
DATE : 2013 – 2015
PROJECT TYPE : LANDSCAPE DESIGN
PHASE OF WORK : FEASIBILITY / VISIONING
Iglu were brought on-board to design and deliver the external environment and spaces for a new primary school, Lairdsland Primary School, set on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal at the western edge of Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire.
The project, joint run and funded by East Dunbartonshire Council and Hub West, was an exemplar project for the council, setting standards of design and space provision.
Works started in the New Year 2014 and were completed by mid-2015 with the overall project cost in excess of £6m.
Careful attention was paid to the landscape of the school to ensure it was appropriate to the edge of town location and the historic and Scheduled Ancient Monument setting of the Forth & Clyde Canal.
Iglu were appointed to provide a range of services including Landscape and Visual Appraisal, landscape planning advice, detailed design and development, and implementation on site.
Whilst the school site is situated immediately adjacent to EDC headquarters at Strathkelvin Place and Southbank Business Park to the south East, the chosen site had a number of constraints and complex physical site issues being located adjacent to the Forth and Clyde Canal (the banks of which are a Scheduled Ancient Monument), partially contaminated and immediately adjacent to a marina whose structural tie-rods sat close to the school location.
In addition, there was a nesting swan and a nearby burn whose existing ecology and habitats, as well as significant residential areas nearby, were all paramount to the LVA assessment process.
Key to the landscape proposals was the need to imbue a sense of fun, a thread of education, and an overall need to weave health and well-being into the fabric of the school.
Whilst many ideas and proposals did not make their way into the final design due to value engineering, there were still many that did remain including a MUGA pitch, willow wall for weaving exercises, wildflower meadow, woodland habitat, climbing walls, and timber steps and amphitheatre.