Clovenfords Primary School
The new single stream school replaces an existing facility in Coldingham and is the third in a tranche of similar projects that Scottish Borders Council have procured in recent years.
Location: Galashiels
Client: Scottish Borders Council
Cost: £4m
Completion: 2012
Formerly farmland, the site is at the foot of sloping terrain and as such, the drainage designs have had to incorporate measures to deal with run-off. Coupled with this, the permeability of the natural soils was relatively poor and as such, the prospects for discharging surface water by infiltration were limited. Some infiltration was achieved using a substantial geocellular soakaway structure, constructed under the MUGA but otherwise, below ground attenuation structures were required. Soils were susceptible to deterioration if worked on in wet conditions and great care was needed in our earthworks strategy.
The building itself is a single storey, masonry construction which has gently sloping roofs formed in timber and ply panels. The roof panels act as diaphragms, ensuring wind loads are spread to the supporting masonry walls. Steelwork was limited to the gym area.