Harris Academy
Harris Academy
Client: Dundee City Council
Dates: 2012 - 2016
Value: £32m
Project: New-build Secondary School
Location: Dundee
Situated on an enviable site, overlooking the Firth of Tay, the redeveloped Harris Academy provides a unique and inspirational 15,000m2 facility for a school community of 1200 pupils and staff.
The project is located within Dundee’s West Conservation Area and sits quietly on Perth Road as a two- storey linear building, replacing the former B Listed schoolhouse that once stood. The challenging gradients of the site, dropping 10 metres from the road level to the rear of the site, conceals a further two-storeys from street view, with the building revealing its four-storey glass façade to the South, addressing the landscaped courtyard playground and riverside setting.
Developed closely with Dundee City Council, the project embraced best practice endorsed by the Scottish Futures Trust by providing a series of flexible and adaptable teaching spaces. This approach has created opportunities for formal and informal learning, facilitating a variety of teaching methods and providing a working stage for the delivery of a Curriculum for Excellence.
Within the building, a central, multi levelled assembly space forms the heart of the school, from which point all floor levels radiate, aiding navigation around the building and creating a visual link between subject departments.
The development also incorporates enhanced leisure facilities including a swimming pool, accessible for use by the local community, and an Enhanced Provision Department, providing specialist support and guidance to pupils.
Externally, a restrained and limited palette of materials has created a building that is both considerate to its context and contemporary in form. Landscaping around the building ensures that it sits comfortably within its surroundings, with large terraces bridging the changes in level and creating the opportunity for outdoor classroom spaces, environmental gardens and social areas. A high-level plaza accessed from Perth Road provides a view across the tree line towards the River Tay and creates a unique break-out space adjacent to the school and community library.
