Telford College in Edinburgh is one of Scotland’s largest further education facilities, designed to accommodate over 21,000 students and 600 staff in a sustainable, high quality environment. Consolidating four existing campus sites into one state-of-the-art building, this high profile project symbolised a major cultural change in the organisation from individual department-based teaching into more collaborative ways of using the spaces available.

Buro Happold also adopted a collaborative approach in the design and planning of the development. Working closely with the College authorities and architects HOK, we were able to draw on our expertise in educational buildings to address specific challenges, such as ensuring the excellence of public and circulation spaces (though not at the expense of the ‘functional’ areas of the building). Traffic impact and parking issues were also of primary concern and a key planning constraint.

Reducing environmental impact and optimising energy performance were major objectives on this project. Environmentally-friendly features include a lightweight ETFE foil roof over the atrium space, a grey-water recycling system, porous pavements to assist sustainable drainage, wind power generators and extensive use of natural ventilation and daylight. A green transport plan was developed and submitted to the Local Authority as part of the planning process.

Date: Completed in 2006