Forth Valley College, Falkirk Campus

The opening of Forth Valley College’s new Falkirk Campus marked the culmination of 11years of collaboration with Reiach and Hall Architects and the completion of a “family” of 3campuses in Alloa,Stirling and Falkirk.The new campus - which will serve as FVC’s headquarters - completes the college’s ambitious £128million estates programme which saw Alloa Campus open in 2011 and Stirling Campus open a year later. The Scottish Government’s investment in the construction of the new campus, makes the campus one of the largest publicly funded building projects in Scotland.Designed by architects Reiach and Hall Architects and delivered by Keppie Design and Balfour Beatty the unique state-of-the-art facilities include, world class laboratories, a process training rig, transmission training centre, distillation plant, virtual control room, mini-rig, biotechnology centre, construction workshops, sports centre and front of house training salons for hairdressing and beauty.The progressive approach to learning and teaching in the campus is enhanced by cutting edge classrooms, flexible spaces across the campus and highly advanced technology throughout. Other facilities include a first class learning resource centre, food outlets, conferencing and sports facilities.Further Education Minister Richard Lochhead said: “Falkirk campus is a first-class facility which offers students access to a wide variety of state-of-the-art classrooms and facilities tailored to specific subjects, allowing a progressive approach to learning and teaching.”Dr Ken Thomson, FVC Principal, said: “Seeing our students walk through the doors of our new Falkirk Campus was an exhilarating and proud experience. It was great to welcome them and I am excited to see everyone settle in to this excellent new learning environment.“Unfortunately the new opening was tempered by COVID 19 as working from home became a necessity. However the fabulous design for flexible space and digital infrastructure has meant we’ve been able to accommodate staff and students under social distancing guidelines and Scottish Government direction. I am very proud the campus is now being utilised not only for learning, but as the vaccination hub for Falkirk. A fabulous community asset. “Our new HQ – which focuses heavily on training facilities designed for science/technology/engineering/sport and healthcare – will enhance further education for the people of Falkirk and beyond, for years to come. “We can’t thank architects Reiach and Hall and Balfour Beatty enough for designing and constructing our new building and helping us to realise our vision, and I personally would like to thank everyone who has worked on the project for guiding it to completion.”