Stirling Campus In Forth Valley College
STIRLING CAMPUS IN FORTH VALLEY COLLEGE
Reiach and Hall Architects
LOCATION
Stirling, United Kingdom
PROJECT YEAR
2012
CATEGORY
University
Text description provided by architect.
The project in its entirety is for two new campus buildings (Alloa and Stirling) and a masterplan for the HQ campus in Falkirk.
With a demand for new college facilities at Stirling and the previously illustrated Alloa, Reiach and Hall started with a three month brief development period for both new campuses involving interviewing all academic departments along with administration and support staff.
The process allowed the evolution of a comprehensive set of briefing documents which were fully understood by all parties and took on board all concerns. It was also an opportunity to get to know the College, its staff and the way it works.
Any education building requires a number of different types of space – space for group (class) teaching, space for group study, space for individual study, space for reflection etc.
It is of value for at least some of these space types to be available out of doors as well as inside the building.
In Stirling the brief itself describes a multi-disciplinary FE campus building – workshops, specialist and general classrooms, and common facilities such as refectory, library/resource centre, gym and student services (advice) centre.
Additionally the campus is the College’s Centre of Excellence for Hospitality and Tourism, and Creative Industries.
This opened up the opportunity to develop a sries of spaces – refectory, conference room, two classrooms and the Training Restaurant as a combined facility which could be used by outside organisations/individuals and provide a revenue stream for the College.
A particular requirement of the brief was that designers should consider the relationship of the College building to the town of Stirling, and the Raploch area in particular.
The site is on the edge of town and required a high degree of openness and connection to effectively integrate in social terms.
