Top marks for new Dunfermline High at architectural awards

The £40 million eco-friendly Dunfermline High School has scooped a top architectural award.

The school, which opened last year, and the £16m Stirling campus of Forth Valley College are among 12 winners in this year’s Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland Awards.

Winners range from sympathetic redevelopments of private homes to a new arts centre and an arts installation.

RIAS president Iain Connelly said 75 entrants from across Scotland confirmed the awards, in only their second year, were now the single most important recognition of architectural achievement in Scotland.

Built in partnership with BAM Construction, the school’s main feature is transparency of every area, a design proven to improve behaviour and reduce bullying.

It also has a central “street” linking the three teaching wings and providing an open space for learning, performance and socialising

Dunfermline, the first secondary completed in Fife Council’s £180m investment in new schools, also won the Zero Waste Scotland award for resource efficiency.