Low Carbon

Dunfermline Learning Campus
Louise Playford & Alan Paul, Fife Council

The Dunfermline Learning Campus is a first for Scotland and a pathfinder project, developing two secondary schools (one denominational, one non- denominational), a Fife College campus and community facilities all on the one site.

The ambition, scale and complexity of this project has necessitated new, innovative ways of working. The drive towards Net Zero and Passivhaus standards, combined with new digital approaches requires significant innovation in working practices and construction methods. The presentation will demonstrate some of this innovation and how this is being taken forward in other projects.

• Partnership working - maintaining effective working relationships focussed on outcomes throughout a large scale, longer term project
• Innovation in construction - Passivhaus/ Net Zero & digital approaches
• Effective student engagement- the role of pupil ambassadors throughout the project

The Triangle of Learning - East Calder Primary School
Kevin Cooper, NORR; Allan Smith, Morrison Construction; and Greg Welsh, West Lothian Council

East Calder Primary School shows that there are other ways to achieve optimum energy performance other than Passivhaus. Due to be completed in July 2024, it is a LEIP-funded, low energy project however it is, first and foremost a pupil-focused, educationally driven learning environment contained within a contextually responsive, site-specific form. East Calder has a dynamic triangular plan with a south elevation to absorb heat, but no north elevation to lose heat from. Although not a Passivhaus project, it is nevertheless compact and efficient with an excellent form factor to boot. But, most importantly of all, it will be a joyful place to learn with a strong sense of school community generated from its compact form derived from extensive stakeholder engagement.

The 3 main constituents of the team - the Client, the Architect and the Contractor - will together explain the importance of holistic design and of how an engagement led process can maximise the opportunities for young learners and achieve the optimum result for the wider community.