2008 [unbuilt]

The brief for this project was to work closely with the Casa della Pace School to design new facilities on a greenfield site near St Andrews. The buildings are to accommodate around 100 children, from crèche facilities to woodland lodges for groups of the older children. This format might prove to be a model for other Montessori eco-schools in Scotland and Europe, with the highest sustainability agenda and use of natural materials, its construction method and minimal in-use energy consumption. The location of the school building in close proximity to the adjacent stream and woods is fundamental to a Montessori approach to education.

Intended to be constructed in two stages, the first main building would accommodate the younger children in a circular structure with a protected courtyard, designed with a tree at its centre. The second stage would be for the older children, and would mark a more independent stage in their development, and as such would consist of a series of smaller buildings constructed in the woodland to the South of the site.

Images © Icosis Architects