Riverside Primary School, Perth

2025 RIAS Award
RIAS/Luths Services Sustainability Award
RIAS/TSA Scotland’s Client of the Year Award
 

Education
Architype for Perth and Kinross Council  
Contract value: Confidential
GIA: 4,283m²

This is an exemplary school project, which will serve as an inspiring model for the design of schools in Scotland and across the UK. Riverside Primary School, designed by Architype, is the first Passivhaus-certified school in Scotland and has been underpinned by a brief to combine the client’s modern and supportive pedagogy with the Passivhaus standard and the use of natural and non-toxic materials.

The school is the combination of two existing primary schools – North Muirton and Balhousie – and it is clear that the two communities have been brought together due to a close and successful relationship between the client, school team, community and architect.

The school combines the complex needs of nursery, primary and intensive support provision (ISP) into one building that provides the children and staff with delightfully calm and generous spaces for teaching, alongside good access to well-thought-through and equally generous exterior spaces.

The external landscape has been thoughtfully considered, with diverse and interactive external spaces to encourage play and recreation, including a series of outdoor classrooms, a secret garden and activity trail for pupils, and a gathering place for parents.

Externally the treatment is simple and elegant with well-ordered and proportioned facades of brick with green windows. This is complemented by an interior which is quiet and ordered, with a palette of neutral colours and non-toxic materials such as linoleum, wood-wool fibre acoustic panels and natural maple joinery. Consideration to natural light and views to the outside create an uplifting environment that supports wellbeing.

The plan of the school has a simplicity which gives it clarity for teaching staff and pupils, with the possibility of flexibility in the way the spaces might be used in the future. It is clear that the client had a bold vision and an aspiration to create a truly sustainable learning environment and this has been successfully delivered. All of this was achieved on a modest budget, which makes the achievement even more worthy of an award.

View all of our RIAS Scotland winners here, and all our RIBA UK Award winners here.

View the full RIBA UK Awards 2025 process.