April 1 2021

Norr Architects are taking the lead on the construction of a new school to replace the existing Sikeside and Carnbroe primaries in Coatbridge.

As part of a broader upgrade of North Lanarkshire schools the new Carnbroe & Sikeside campus will consolidate both schools alongside an early learning centre with a total capacity of 584.

Conceived as an object building within the suburban landscape the architecture seeks to establish a sense of place, complemented by a landscape strategy overseen by Hirst.

Built into the slope of the site the main frontage will sit on the upper ground floor around a centrally positioned entrance and covered civic space, with semi-open plan cellular classrooms arranged around the perimeter and interior floor to ceiling windows offering a view down to an assembly hall below.

Asking planners to approve the design Norr wrote: "Our team believes that this building provides North Lanarkshire Council a genuinely compelling blend of quality and value contained within a simple, site-specific form which generates a very strong sense of place."

Externally the buff brick school will be wrapped in a bronze coloured metal with sloped flanks at either end intended to instil a sense of dynamism. 

3 Comments

#1 Posted by Nairn's Bairn on 2 Apr 2021 at 11:27 AM

The lack of perspective applied to the hopscotch squares on picture 3 is physically painful to look at.

The building exterior is 'meh', but I'm sure the end result will be a valuable education resource, so all good.

#2 Posted by HMR on 6 Apr 2021 at 08:21 AM

Copy paste, looks like a poor version of Bertha Park & West Calder School.

#3 Posted by Sleven on 27 Apr 2021 at 12:08 PM

Wonderful looking site. I do like NORR's approach to highly flexible school environments, within a single volume, like Bertha Park

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