East Lothian Council

Category

Client of the Year - Architecture

Company

Hub South East Scotland

Summary

Reason for nomination

East Lothian Council’s (ELC’s) approach to the briefing, design, construction, handover, and operation of Wallyford Learning Campus, characterises them as the perfect Client. Their unwavering commitment to the education, health and wellbeing of the pupils, teachers and community of Wallyford and the wider East Lothian region has been truly awe inspiring. Their relentless drive to create an outstanding building; one which delivers a truly exceptional education and community environment generated an enthusiasm, commitment and passion for the project throughout the project team of a level which we had not experienced on any previous project. It is for this reason that jmarchitects and Hub South East Scotland wish to nominate their Client, East Lothian Council and their Wallyford Learning Campus Team led by Samantha Williams, Team Manager – Design & Programme Management, Neil Craik-Collins, Education Service Manager and Lynda Wightman, Interior Design and Facilities Officer for the accolade of Client of the Year. Wallyford Learning Campus is the first new build secondary school to be built in East Lothian for a generation and is likely to be the last for some considerable time. This project therefore was very much seen as a once in a lifetime opportunity. Whilst every project is important and significant, the uniqueness of this project demanded a different approach. This project was never ‘business as usual.’ Without the opportunity to draw upon lessons from other recent new builds in the region and utilise an existing knowledge bank of information the technical and design brief for this project was developed from first principles, as a truly bespoke response. Brief development work began in early 2018, a full year before design work commenced in earnest and 3 years before construction commenced. jmarchitects and Hub South East were afforded the opportunity to work closely and collaboratively with ELC, throughout this pre-design stage to support, assist and input in to the project brief as a key member of the Client’s in-house Team. This work focused on the research and application of best practice, working with the Scottish Futures Trust to align the project to the then new funding criteria of their Learning Estate Investment Programme (which was in its infancy at the time), developing an enhanced understanding of ‘Place’ and community needs, extensive engagement with local industry, higher and further education providers, community groups, health and social care providers, community councils and relevant local authority departments. As Architects and Delivery Partners the opportunity to engage at this level, and to be permitted to input in to and influence a project brief in this way and do so, so far ahead of undertaking any design work (and be financially supported to do so!), is something we feel contributed enormously to the success and quality of the delivered project and the success and joy of the design and construction process - the project, collectively became ‘ours’. Although the brief developed iteratively ELC’s vision and ambition for this project was clear from the outset. Despite the Client leads, Samantha, Neil and Lynda (project delivery, education and design respectively) each working for different departments within the Authority, with varying, albeit equally important project priorities and outcomes the team at all times delivered clear and balanced direction and feedback. Samantha, an Architect within ELC oversaw the delivery, quality, design, programme and cost management of the project. The support she provided to the design team (and Architectural team in particular), her unwillingness to accept anything less than perfection and her stubborn refusal to compromise on the quality of any part of the project is, in our opinion one of the main contributing factors to the design success of the project. Her passion for the importance and value of biophilic design and quality daylight and her hatred of grey is evident throughout the building. Neil, as an Education Service Manager single-handedly drove the learning and teaching vision for this project. His belief in the importance of vocational learning and learning pathways, of links with industry and further education, the value of inter-disciplinary learning and his commitment to creating an in internal and external learning environment of incomparable quality drove every design decision made on the project. His endless energy, enthusiasm, commitment, and ambition was infectious and drove the design team to new levels of creativity and delivery. Lynda, as East Lothian Council’s Interior Design Officer led one of the buildings most impactful aspects, its interior design strategy and implementation. Lynda successfully coordinated and implemented not only the vision of the Architects, the Interior Designer and the FF&E supplier but also ensured that Samantha and Neils vision was adhered to whilst placing her own design stamp on the building. Every single aspect of the building’s interior, without exception was discussed, debated, and ultimately agreed with Lynda to deliver an exceptional design response. Together these three individuals, (with the unending support of the wider East Lothian Council Team) worked in harmony throughout the design and construction process to deliver a fully cohesive vision and ambition resulting in an equally cohesive campus building which successfully delivers all aspects of the brief. We can think of no Client body more deserving of the accolade as Client of the Year.

Links

https://www.jmarchitects.net

https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/

https://www.hubsoutheastscotland.co.uk/

Photographer

David Cadzow