Leading Scottish window, door and curtain walling designer, manufacturer and installer, CMS Window Systems, has completed a major fenestration contract as part of a project to create a new state-of-the-art primary school in the Scottish Borders that has brought new life to an unused B-listed former high school.
The new £8.6m Duns Primary School and educational campus, designed by Aitken Turnbull Architects and delivered by main contractor GRAHAM Construction, provides a high quality learning environment for over 450 pupils, with the latest facilities and infrastructure required to support children from the ages of three to twelve. It is also home to the Berwickshire Locality Support Centre which assists children with additional needs by providing access to a wider range of staff expertise and integrated services.
The project enabled the school to move from its existing premises in the town, which were largely in a Victorian building that was no longer suited to the needs of modern education. Scottish Borders Council and Hub South East Scotland initiated the project, with part funding from the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), to relocate at the former Berwickshire High School site had been unused since a new purpose-built school was developed in 2009, leaving the B-listed 1950s building vacant.
An extensive refurbishment programme was agreed which involved the complete replacement of the windows, doors and curtain walling throughout the two-storey building. Key to the success of transforming the school building, which has been described as ‘a fine example of a Modernist building’, the project was to preserve as much of the existing school as possible.
CMS Window Systems was appointed by GRAHAM to manufacture and install 223 windows, 14 doors and 125m2 of aluminium curtain walling. All were created using Kawneer systems to deliver superb visual appear thanks to their slim profiles, whilst maintaining excellent thermal and acoustic performance in conjunction with the glazing specification.
The windows, doors and curtain walling features 28.6mm double glazed units which are manufactured using an external 6mm Planiclear Securit COOL-LITE SKN174 II pane, a 16mm black warm edge spacer bar and a 6.8mm Planiclear laminated inner pane – with the cavity being a 90% argon fill. This makes an important contribution to a low overall U-value for the fenestration, with an optimum balance of solar gain and natural light transmission to help provide a comfortable, productive learning environment.
Andy Kerr, Managing Director at CMS Window Systems said: “We’re delighted to have been appointed by GRAHAM to work on the new Duns Primary School project. It is an excellent example of how we can preserve Scotland’s architectural heritage whilst providing the highest quality new facilities to support the government’s goals for improvement in educational achievement. The quality of the school buildings is a major factor in learning outcomes which makes this kind of building project all the more important.”
Find out more about CMS Window Systems at www.cmswindows.com.
