Wick Community Campus and Wick Noss Primary School
Wick, Scotland - School
Award winning education and community design.
Ryder was commissioned by Hub North Scotland on behalf of The Highland Council for the design and development of Wick Community Campus. The 1,200 pupil joint campus replaces the existing high school, consolidating two primary schools with sports facilities, a new community library and swimming pool into one integrated community facility. The scheme is part of the Scottish Government’s transformative Schools for the Future programme.
A focal point for the Wick community.
At the heart of this project was the desire to create a stimulating environment that supported teaching and learning and an aspiration to produce well educated and talented young adults.
The design focuses on an internal street linking three teaching wings, where departmental teaching and primary accommodation is located. Spaces between are used as external courtyards, allowing pupils to benefit from semi sheltered play areas near the main street which runs the length of the building. The street operates as the main access thoroughfare and can function as additional breakout, dining and performance space. Although physically separated, the swimming pool, gym and library are fully integrated into the campus.
The scale of Wick Community Campus required a wholesale approach to identify efficiencies in the buildings construction. Considered use of materials was critical in ensuring the building aesthetically conveys the appropriate messages synonymous with a civic building and its importance to the wider local community.
A simple palette of cladding materials and pre fabricated elements, agreed at an early stage with the contractor, allowed for large sections of the envelope to be manufactured offsite, improving the building’s quality and integrity as well as reducing construction time on site.
Most critically for the location, this approach created significant opportunities to reduce programme across the envelope and permit large areas of the building to be wind and watertight early in the build process.
Arrangement
Balance plays a significant role across the site. By exploiting the existing change in levels across the site, the primary school and nursery are visually separated - appearing as a single storey element whilst remaining physically connected. Tied together with a consistent roof form, light levels entering classrooms are controlled to achieve maximum impact. Similarly, a vertical emphasis in the use of timber, glass and polycarbonate internally breaks down the building’s length, whilst colour is used to differentiate spaces.
Wick North of the River (Noss) Primary School
Delivered in parallel
Ryder also designed the £15.5m Wick North of the River (Noss) Primary School, a replacement school for the north of Wick providing a single facility for two amalgamated existing primary schools in the area. The new building accommodates 387 primary pupils, a three classroom specialist ASN wing and a dedicated 90 place nursery together with sports hall and dining facilities. The new school supports the accessible range of services which enrich the Wick community – in buildings adaptable to new ways of learning.
