Planning approved for Canaan Lane Primary School

We are delighted that our planning application for Canaan Lane Primary School in the Morningside area of Edinburgh, on behalf of The City of Edinburgh Council, has been approved.  The new school has been characterised by Planning on the sub-committee planning report as ‘…of a high standard of design, enhancing the character and appearance of the Grange Conservation Area’.

The new school and nursery will provide a state of the art new facility for City of Edinburgh Council.  The proposal combines a new-build facility which will house the nursery and the majority of the primary school facilities with a refurbishment of the existing 1913 Deanbank House which will accommodate 6 primary school classrooms and associated spaces. The external playground will provide rich and varied educational opportunities for pupils both to the front and the rear of the school.

The proposed school will provide 2 generous public concourses off Canaan Lane. The front of the school and these access concourses will be defined by a reinstated low level stone wall so characteristic of the Grange conservation area.

The design echoes its immediate context, the proposed 2 storey new build is mostly finished in natural sandstone and Corten steel to the public elevations reflecting the feel and height of the buildings in the conservation area and in particular the two 19th Century villas to the east.  The three-dimensional corten steel feature reflects the geometry and establishes an architectural dialogue with the tenement located across from it.  The contrast in material selection emphasises the school’s civic character. The ever-changing nature and texture of weathering steel complements the rich tones of the red sandstone in the existing tenement as well as contrasting with the soft natural light colour sandstone used in the schools front elevation.