Forth Valley College’s Falkirk Campus - designed by architects Reiach and Hall – has been announced as a winner in the Scottish Design Awards.
The campus came top in the category of Architecture: Education Building or Project when winners were announced at a special online ceremony on the evening of Thursday 15 July.
The opening of Forth Valley College’s new Falkirk Campus marked the culmination of 11 years of collaboration with Reiach and Hall Architects and the completion of a ‘family’ of three campuses in Alloa, Stirling and Falkirk, all of which have now won the exact same award.
The new campus - which serves as FVC’s headquarters - completes the College’s ambitious £138million estates programme which saw Alloa Campus open in 2011 and Stirling Campus open a year later.
At £78m, 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.
Dr Ken Thomson, FVC Principal, said: “We are delighted that our new Falkirk Campus has won the Scottish Design Awards Education Building or Project category for 2021. 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.”