The schools were delivered by Holmes Miller’s trio of Spanish architects – sisters Isabel and Clara Garriga, and Guillem Arraez. Principal architect Isabel describes City of Edinburgh Council as “a forward thinking and brave client” that has challenged the traditional ways of thinking about learning and teaching, which is reflected in the design of the interior spaces.

Outside, the three schools all look strikingly different, as they respond to very different sites across the city – a conservation area, adjacent to an old shipyard, and a brand-new residential area. Canaan Lane Primary School is set in the Grange conservation area in affluent Morningside. Frogston Primary is the only public building in a brand-new neighbourhood in the south east of the city, set in the shadow of the Pentland Hills. Victoria Primary, located at Leith’s Western Harbour, has a maritime history and before it moved to its new facility, was considered the oldest working school in Edinburgh, having served the village of Newhaven since 1844.

The result is a series of exciting and inventive projects, tailored to suit each school community.

Holmes Miller was a key partner on the City of Edinburgh Council’s ‘inspiring learning spaces’ group, which formed prior to the start of these projects and included head teachers and business managers from schools across the city. The idea was to learn from their collective experience and build a teaching space model that could be rolled out to future school projects. “City of Edinburgh Council was an amazing client to work with,” says Isabel Garriga. “They were so open minded and forward thinking. We had already worked on some educational projects with them, and at that time they were already looking at how to integrate break-out spaces into school design. When looking at the new primary schools, the concept of what makes a good teaching space was the focus of discussions, and we could see that they were looking forward into the future of classrooms, rather than being stuck in the past.”

Using a teaching space model means the three schools are similar internally in terms of spatial relationships. The use of 2.5m-wide sliding doors has created flexible spaces between classrooms which allow one teacher to overlook three classes. The introduction of these spaces has moved the design away from the institutional rigidity that traditional double banked corridors bring. Natural light, recesses and glazed screens give views of activities that are going on in rooms and transform the corridors into activity spaces.

Classrooms for each age group are arranged to face each other in pairs, sharing a flexible space between them, as well as being able to see into the opposite classroom through strategically placed areas of glazing. The shared space encourages pupils from different classes to interact, and teachers to collaborate, widening the variety of teaching opportunities that will allow children to learn through play and have fun. “The Council didn’t want a conventional approach of a corridor with classrooms off it on either side, or classrooms with rows of desks looking at a whiteboard,” explains Garriga. “Instead they asked for a variety of loose furniture permutations, in a not quite open-plan layout, but a space flexible enough to cater for various activities to encourage independent learning and team teaching. To achieve this they were willing to sacrifice a bit of wall surface in order to be more open than usual. The corridors don’t feel like corridors – when you are inside the schools, you can see right through the buildings and out to the surrounding views on either side. “In terms of interior design, the Council were clear about a natural palette being used rather than bright primary colours usually associated with primary schools.

Our interiors team worked collaboratively with the Council’s interior design team, who paid an incredible amount of attention to detail, right down to every last cushion.” The Council also recognised outdoor learning as fundamental; early dialogue with stakeholders and user groups reinforced the need for useful, educational and stimulating outdoor spaces. As a result, Holmes Miller were given a specific brief that the playgrounds for all three schools should form part of the educational experience, and that all classrooms and social spaces should have doors that directly open to the outdoors.

The schools were designed considering biophilic principles – a concept used to increase a building user’s connection with nature by focusing on greenspace, soft landscape, natural materials, landform, planting and water.

Although the schools share so many internal similarities, externally they are very different as they respond to their unique settings. “Frogston’s undulating roof and asymmetrical elevations echo the neighbouring Pentland hills. The school façade acts as the civic front to the new park as well as a reflection of the landscape beyond. Victoria, with its maritime history, has a much more regular elevation that fits in with the context of the old shipyard it sits next to. And the corten steel-clad entrance at Canaan Lane is really something special – it talks to the sandstone building across the road, on what is a lovely street in a conservation area,” says Garriga. All three schools were finalists in the ‘Pupil/Student Experience’ category of the Learning Places Scotland Awards, held in partnership with the Scottish Government, which focus on the funding, design, build, maintenance and management of early years, schools, colleges and universities. Victoria was also a finalist in the ‘Project of the Year’ category, and shortlisted at the Edinburgh Architectural Association awards. “We’re proud that the designs of these three schools have been recognised, especially as their plans were developed in such close consultation with the council, pupils and school staff,” says project director, Clara Garriga. “We were so lucky to work with a client who continually challenges the traditional ways of thinking about learning and teaching to create facilities that will significantly enhance the educational experience of their local children.”

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