Monifieth Learning Campus

History

Monifieth High School, located within the west of the town, was built in the late 1970s and opened to children in August 1979. 

The building is a mixture of single and two-storey brick-built teaching blocks, with flat roofs, typical for the age of the building. At the time of construction, there was a move towards constructing smaller areas, volume, and windows.

The original school building was designed for a capacity of up to 1060 children. 

There have been a number of extensions and adaptations to the building over the years including the construction of additional changing facilities; new office and staff/visitor entrance; new drama studios; and the erection of an extension, originally planned for mixed school/community access, but latterly due to capacity issues used for children with Additional Support Needs.

Every year Angus Council completes a return to the Scottish Government which provides an assessment of the condition and suitability rating for each school within the estate. These are calculated in accordance with Scottish Government Condition and Suitability guidance.

Suitability

Monifieth High School is currently rated ‘C’ for Suitability. Due to the original design and construction, the school’s suitability and environment causes restrictions in the delivery of a modern curriculum. While there are a number of individual classroom spaces the circulation and social spaces are extremely limited.  Specific issues around suitability include:

• poor quality of natural and mechanical ventilation to numerous teaching areas
• lack of natural light throughout the building
• inefficient heating system and controls
• accessibility challenges including:- circulation routes, steep ramps, narrow corridors and limited facilities
• significant accommodation limitations relating to extent, quality and flexibility
• storage limitations throughout

Condition

At the last council building survey and Scottish Government return the building was rated ‘B’ for Condition with £1m of identified maintenance work required.

In preparation for this project, an independent condition survey was prepared by external Chartered Building Surveyor consultants. 

The outcome of this Condition survey indicated that the building condition should now be considered a ‘C’. The report highlighted that recommended maintenance works based on industry-standard expected lifespans could extend to circa £4-5m. Specific highlights included:

• ceilings throughout require replacement from water damage, wear and elements missing
• decoration required throughout building
• some elements of the original windows / glazing / curtain walling are at end of life with some windows not operating
• large number of floorcoverings have reached the end of their lifespan
• internal doors and ironmongery throughout are generally original and would require large scale replacement due to wear / damage
• replacement and upgrading of wayfinding, statutory signage and lighting required throughout
• numerous electrical systems nearing or beyond economic life
• numerous mechanical systems are original to the building construction and are now nearing or beyond economic life, with various systems detrimentally affecting the building fabric

Roll

Monifieth High School has a positive reputation and has a high demand for placing requests from across Angus and Dundee.  The A92 corridor adjacent to the school has seen extensive new housing development in recent years. There is significant pressure in terms of occupancy, and roll projections indicate increased demand will continue in future years.

To accommodate an increasing roll, the building has had a number of extensions, in addition to various ancillary spaces being re-purposed into teaching areas.

Furthermore, Angus Council has installed temporary modular buildings to the west of the sports block which provides additional teaching accommodation prior to the completion of the new building.

Next: Background to the proposal