One of the two main
sloping elevations
14 NSC
March 18
A school for the new 800-acre
village known as Bertha Park
is starting to take shape on the
outskirts of Perth.
Spearheaded by Springfield Properties,
which secured planning consent for its
master plan in 2016, the construction of the
site’s proposed 3,000 homes will continue
for the next 30 years.
It is estimated Bertha Park, featuring 60
acres of commercial land accommodating
shops, offices and restaurants, will generate
work for 2,000 people.
One of the initial parts of the village
to be built is the £31M Bertha Park High
School, a facility that will cater for up to
1,100 secondary pupils. It is hoped that by
building the school in the early stages of the
development, it will encourage families to
move to the new village.
“The project is unique in the current
Scottish schools programme as it isn’t a
replacement for an existing school, rather
it is an entirely new building to serve the
growing population of Perth,” explains
Robertson Operations Manager Robbie
Kerr.
Having a blank canvas with no old school
to replicate in any way, as well as building
on a greenfield site, has allowed the design
team to produce a highly distinctive school
building.
The school is accommodated within one
large wedge-shaped structure that measures
70m-long and is 40m-wide at the northern
end. Both of the main elevations taper
inwards and so the southern end is slightly
narrower at 20m-wide.
Topping the building is a sloping roof
with a five degree pitch, which slopes
downwards from the north facing main
façade. This means the structure has three
floors with a large enclosed plant deck
above at one end, sloping down to only
two floors at the southern elevation. The
uppermost third floor consequently only
extends over five bays at the north end.
This 40m-wide north façade contains the
school’s main entrance and, similar to the
slightly narrower southern elevation, will
feature large glazed areas in contrast to the
two side elevations of the school that will be
clad with brick.
“It’s a very efficient shape, suited to
a steel-framed design,” explains NORR
Director Kevin Cooper. “The teaching
spaces are located around the exterior of the
structure with a large column-free centrally
positioned amphitheatre acting as the
school’s main focal point.”
The steel frame is based around a
nominally standard grid for its classrooms
of 7.5m × 7.5m, although there are some
slightly larger teaching spaces with a grid of
7.5m × 9m.
Steelwork supports metal decking
Education
School spearheads new town
Structural steelwork has answered all the questions
correctly on a school project in Perth. Martin Cooper reports.
FACT FILE
Bertha Park High
School, Perth
Main client:
Perth & Kinross Council
Architect: NORR
Main contractor:
Robertson
Structural engineer:
Goodsons Associates
Steelwork contractor:
Walter Watson
Steel tonnage: 720t
Efficiency was the main
driver for the building’s
shape and the reason
for choosing steel
/Residential_and_mixed-use_buildings
/Multi-storey_office_buildings
/Education_buildings
/Facades_and_interfaces
/Braced_frames
/Concept_design#Floor_grids
/Steel_construction_products#Decking_for_floors