Dunning Primary School
Background
The project to upgrade Dunning Primary School commenced in
November 2007. This project was a combination of a new build
together with the refurbishment of the existing main
building. The previous accommodation was in the main within
‘hutted’ accommodation with an external toilet
block. The upgrade project brought the whole school under one
roof and transformed the facilities for pupils and staff into a
modern learning and teaching environment.
Consultation
Substantial consultation on the development of Dunning School
took place during the period of the project. A user group,
which included Council and Community representatives, was
established and met regularly to confirm requirements, monitor and
discuss progress on the project. It is the intention to hold
a final meeting of the user group to celebrate the success of the
project and to confirm the effectiveness of the project process
overall. This will also provide valuable lessons learned that can
be applied to future projects. The Community as a whole were
fully supportive and committed to working with Education and
Children’s Services to make the project a success.
A Learning experience
The construction phase was carried out from November 2007 until
October 2008. During this period the pupils and staff were
decanted off site to The Community School of Auchterarder. As
the school was offsite it was a challenge to ensure that the
children still gained a learning experience from the building
contract and that they were fully involved with the development of
their new school, consequently a pupil visiting group was
formed. This group of 8 pupils made supervised visits
to the building site and reported on progress via newsletters which
were compiled by the pupils. The educational adviser for
Mansell ensured that members of the community who might not receive
the information newsletter were kept fully informed of progress by
periodically attending local meetings.
Design
The building design is impressively attractive and dominated by
a sweeping overhanging roof. The design approach to the new
elements of the building is contemporary but respects the setting
in terms of scale, design and materials. The roof shape was driven
by the need to provide natural daylight and ventilation into the
depths of the teaching spaces and gym hall. The external wall
finishes vary between smooth render, brick and timber lining
interspersed with a large amount of glazing and high and low level
windows. Internally the curved roof form is enhanced by
faceted suspended ceilings following the same curves as the roof to
give the feeling of great space and light of almost ecclesiastical
levels. This ‘ecclesiastical’ feel is amplified by the
use of a multi-paned triangular screen at the main entrance
pointing up to the apex of the curved roof above and also by the
replacement ‘gothic’ windows in the main dining
hall. Unlike a church building, however, the design includes
a series of measures to attenuate sound particularly in the
teaching spaces and hall. The mechanical and electrical
services installations embraces all that is new and good in
environmental design. The new and existing buildings are all served
by automatic lighting controls; solar panels to pre-heat water and
electronic displays to provide a teaching aid to the pupils;
natural ventilation in teaching areas and mechanical ventilation
reduced to utility spaces.
Additional land is required for playing field purposes and
discussions are ongoing in this regard. This is expected to be
concluded in 2014/15.
Project Team
The partnering team included the Head Teacher, ECS Projects
Support Team representatives, Design team representatives,
Construction team representatives, CDMC Co-ordinator and the
Project Facilitator.
Award Winner
This project was awarded Gold in the category 'Promoting
Sustainability' in Perth & Kinross Council's 'Securing the
Future Awards 2009'. The project also achieved Bronze in the COSLA
Excellence Awards 2010.
Key Project Data
| Name of school |
Dunning Primary School |
| Sector |
Primary School |
| Location |
Station Road, Dunning, PH2 0RH |
| School capacity |
125 |
| Procurement |
Traditional partnering |
| Gross internal floor area |
1400 sqm (new build)
300 sqm (existing building) |
| On site start date |
November 2007 |
| Occupation date |
October 2008 |
