Edinburgh school gets new state-of-the-art building as pupils return from summer holidays
A new school year has meant a brand new building for pupils and staff at Edinburgh’s Currie Community High School.
Billed as a state-of-the-art learning and community campus, the new school has a four-court sports hall, a gym hall, fitness suite, dance studio, a four lane swimming pool and a 3G pitch.
The main entrance foyer includes the school library alongside informal social and meeting spaces for the community to use. These facilities include a wellness centre, meeting room and café area for community users.
The campus has been built to Passivhaus standard, minimising energy consumption and reducing the reliance on active heating or cooling systems, ensuring it is a sustainable and eco-friendly construction. It also has measures to improve the air quality and thermal performance of the building,
The council said the school had been designed to encourage cross-curricular and collaborative learning, with two large open plan learning plazas which are easily accessed by classrooms on all three floors.
And with the needs of all learners in mind, there are classrooms in an Integrated Support Zone and a sensory room and nurture room. Breakout and retreat spaces throughout the school offer pupils choice on where they want to work, socialise or take time out.
The new school, which has 920 pupils, comes after controversial plans to merge Currie High and Wester Hailes Education Centre were dropped.
The planned merger to form a new South West Edinburgh High School was proposed in 2017 after it was agreed both the Currie High and WHEC buildings were nearing the end of their useful life. But the proposal sparked a furious backlash from both communities and was eventually abandoned.
Education convener James Dalgleish said it was “fantastic” to have the new Currie High officially open, marking a new era for staff and pupils, as well as the local community.
He said: “The new school has been designed with future proofing and sustainability front and centre. The design and landscape was informed and influenced by the school’s senior leadership team to ensure that the needs of pupils were prioritised throughout.
“Alongside this, it was crucial that the building met our sustainability commitments, and it is fantastic that the school is one of the very first Passivhaus secondary schools in Scotland.
“I am thrilled that the school and wider community will benefit from this fantastic new building both now and well into the future.”