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Moffat Academy in Dumfries and Galloway, designed by architects 3DReid, has completed and been handed over. It is one of four new build schools as part of the public private partnership between Dumfries and Galloway Council (Smarter Schools) and E4D&G (Amey Ventures Ltd and Cyril Sweett).. The multi-million pound school, with a roll of 60 Pre-5, 250 primary and 368 secondary pupils, is developed around a simple courtyard concept and is both outward looking and welcoming and inward looking and secure. The four sides to the external facade actively engage with the surrounding community across the adjacent fields, a conscious decision to avoid a back to the school. The internal facades to the courtyard create a safe learning environment for all age groups within the school to look over, move through and experience without being overlooked by the surrounding community. The entrance facade steps progressively in below the over-sailing roof carried on colonnade of steel columns, a reference to the strong tree lines prevalent in and around the site. This juxtaposition of elements draws attention towards the main entrance, marked by a double height glazed ‘slot’. The first floor library and terrace also creates a book end to the stepping facade, further emphasising the position of the main entrance. On entering the secure lobby, the courtyard becomes visible through the glazed wall beyond, drawing the visitor into the ‘heart’ of the school. From this point all teaching, social and administrative spaces can be accessed. At night the solidity of the 8,680sqm building is punctuated by glazed stairwells positioned on the axis of a historical tree lined land boundary. This physical line has dictated the orientation of the school on the site, a point of reference bringing the building and the landscape together as a single entity. The use of colour and texture on the external facades has been chosen to respond to the rural location and local vernacular, with a blend of natural timber, bricks coloured to reflect the dominant local whinstone and render; and to portray a modern, contemporary feel with the use of the strikingly striped composite cladding panels, and the strong, joyous colouring to the primary and pre-5 elements Alex Donaldson, Partnerships Director at 3DReid said: " Moffat is fairly rare in Scotland in that it embraces an All-through approach to education. All-through means schooling that has a seamless integrated approach to teaching children from the age of four till seventeen. Some communities in Scotland have a resistance to the concept, worried that the primary school element will become swamped by the secondary, but at Moffat quite the opposite is true. The separate elements come together to create a whole much more than the sum of its parts, meaning the children benefit from improved facilities and a continuous, unbroken education."
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