Plans have been revealed for Scotland’s first Living Building at the Dollar Academy, an independent school in Clackmannanshire.

Designed by Grimshaw Architects, the building will be the permanent home of the Future Institute at Dollar Academy (FIDA), a learning platform with a focus on sustainability and skills.

FIDA was launched in May 2021 to tackle three challenges in education – providing equitable access and closing the poverty-related attainment gap; finding compelling alternatives to traditional teaching and exam systems and addressing sustainability. The initiative provides young people across Scotland with opportunities to undertake real-world challenges founded on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The building occupies a location within view of the original 1819 Grade A historic building, designed by William Playfair, from which the Dollar Academy grew.

Grimshaw has designed the FIDA building to meet every criteriaa set out in the Living Building Challenge by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

Andrew Whalley, chair of Grimshaw – and a Dollar Academy alumn – said: “Dollar Academy has a long history of encouraging students to explore the arts, which of course fuels the imagination and creative problem-solving. It’s now leading the way with a paradigm shift in learning, to be shared as an open platform resource.

"Such an initiative requires an equally fresh approach to its future centre, with an architecture that will support team working, collaboration and exploring new creative sustainable solutions that will empower and inspire the next generation to tackle the planetary problems we now all face.”

The design approach imagines a building that is beautiful and efficient, but in balance with our planet and its population.

It seeks to do this by minimising embodied carbon through efficient, economic structural form and careful material selection.

The only use of concrete is in the foundation. The enclosing walls are constructed with a glue-laminated timber frame infilled with locally sourced stone in gabion frames.

The overall enclosure is fabricated from a lightweight, glue laminated geodesic dome clad with the latest generation of insulated ETFE pillows and solid insulated panes with photovoltaic panels. This roof can maximize passive solar gain throughout the year with full ventilation capabilities for summer.

Flooded with natural light, the interior is meant to capture the sense of being in a highly tempered outdoor space. The ground floor is centred on a large open space for projects and performances and linked to the first floor by stepped auditorium seating constructed from timber.

Workshops and laboratories line the perimeter with glazing providing transparency and openness. The first floor is constructed from cross-laminated timber with space for traditional and experimental gardens. A flexible, partitioned classroom structure spans the open void offering a multi-use landscaped roof terrace.

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