Wallyford Learning Campus

A place for the community to meet and learn together, Wallyford Learning Campus is a state-of-the-art community building that is truly inclusive, intergenerational and responds to environmental and educational agendas.

Born out of the requirement for a new high school, the Campus is home to Rosehill High School as well as a dedicated science, technology, engineering, arts, and maths (STEAM) centre, a severe and complex needs school, hydrotherapy pool and specialist provision community hub for adults with complex needs.

Wallyford Community Centre and Library were also rehomed within the building to upgrade facilities and condense the local authority’s estate into one efficient building that is accessible, active, and open all year round. Inclusion of a café, sports facilities and a ‘Tots and Teens Creche’; the building provides activities and services for the entire family and enables parents to engage with employability and up-skilling courses.

Open, transparent spaces allow users to interact and learn in a collaborative environment, whilst showcasing the variety of learning opportunities available. The building’s holistic approach to energy efficiency and inclusion of biophilic design principles results in environmental conditions which will contribute to the health and wellbeing of users and in turn positively influences attainment levels. Through combining architecture of a mature nature with a new vocational approach to education, Wallyford Learning Campus aims to ease the transition and create stronger pathways for young learners moving from a secondary school environment to the workplace or higher education.

Beyond the façade of the building a ‘Learning Landscape’ anchors the building at its core; a space to bring together community, learning, health and wellbeing. Carefully considered garden spaces facilitate therapeutic support for the users through engagement with local groups, shared growing, intergenerational learning and foster a sense of community whilst improving biodiversity across the site.

Further opportunities are provided through the Agricultural Skills Academy and Construction Skills Academy where courses will be delivered on site by Edinburgh College and Learning Partnerships to provide training, upskill local people and support progression of skilled workers into the industry. During construction of Wallyford Learning Campus, the Construction Skills Academy, with the support of the main contractor, trained two apprentices in stone masonry whilst repairing the site’s historic boundary walls.

Designed to integrate and sit proudly at the heart of its new community, the campus will fully engage, support and benefit users through all stages of life for many years to come.