New building plans revealed for Inverness Royal Academy

Provisional details of plans for the new £34 million Inverness Royal Academy were recently unveiled at a meeting held on 19 March to staff and stakeholders, including Parent Council representatives and local Councillors.

By mid-2016 the 1,420-pupil Inverness Royal Academy will be housed in a modern, well-appointed four storey building on the current blaes sports area with new all-weather pitches and upgraded sports facilities also planned.

At the meeting planners emphasised that there can still be a lot of flexibility in terms of what the designs contain and how that is arranged.

One early strategic decision was the choice of the blaes area between the current building and Culduthel Woods as the focus of the new campus which will have the key internal feature of twin atrium spaces as the centrepiece of vastly improved social areas.

Brian Thomson, Managing Director of jmarchitects who are designing the building in collaboration with Highland Council explained: “One advantage of a build on this side is to open up a southern aspect. This also means that playground space will all be on the south side of the building. We are considering separate entrances on the south side for pupils, visitors and for the sports area. Social space is a critical one and this will include two atrium spaces lit from above."

Naturally lit spaces will also offer access to much of the building but care has been taken to have outward facing windows for classrooms, many of which will be built around these areas. The top floor which, at present, will include Science and Art accommodation has been planned to include a spacious external terrace while a 300 seated performance venue is included in the plan as well.

The project will proceed so that while the new building is under construction next door, education can continue as normal in the existing building which will then be demolished within a few months to create space for two all-weather pitches.

Councillor Alasdair Christie, Chair of The Highland Council’s Adult & Children’s Services Committee welcomed the update on the project, he said: “The benefits to our pupils, staff and the local community will be immense with the development of the new Inverness Royal Academy. It’s great to see the plans coming to fruition of this major investment in the future education of our children and we also look forward to local employment opportunities in its construction.”

Rector Alastair McKinlay said: “It's really pleasing to see this begin to take shape in front of our eyes. You could sense the lift that people got when they saw the plans and had the whole project explained to them at the meeting. While there's still a long way to go yet and a large number of internal and external details to be confirmed, we can actually sense now that our new school, and one of quality, really is on the way with a definite completion date."

Further information on the new building can be viewed on the council’s website at: /learninghere/schools/schoolsbuildingsprogramme/