Ceres Primary School

Ceres, Fife

Ceres Primary school does not fit in with the image of a village-no matter what the architect or council think! and is justly a worthy contender for the Pock Mark Award. Just to illustrate a point I've picked out a couple of statements from the design statement in which the Council seem oblivious to the fact that we are a rural area, the residents have not been consulted & the project definitely does not provide a new forward looking community focus for the residents of Ceres in a contemporary but respectful manner! 1. Fife Council have carried out close consultation with a number of local stakeholder groups during the design development of this project. Pupil involvement,The School Board, The Parent Council, Local Councillors. 2. Issues and concerns raised during these meetings have been, where possible, integrated into the proposals to ensure the local community develop a sense of ownership with the project. 3. Context. Ensure that the proposals fit naturally with the urban context of the surroundings. 4. Historical Fabric. The concept allows the opportunity to provide an insertion in line with the existing urban fabric and streetscape of Schoolhill. The proposals allow the opportunity to rationalise this and provide a new heart to the school whilst instilling a new sense of identity. 5. The contemporary design approach adopted allows for a new forward looking focus for the community to be developed whilst proposing to give the school a sense of place in the community. 6. Extensive pre-application discussions with all parties have resulted in proposals which satisfy the needs to the school in terms of facilities, meet the tight budgetary constraints of the client and provides a new forward looking community focus for the residents of Ceres in contemporary but respectful manner.

Tony Martin

This building is not going to fit in with the rest of the village but more importantly than that it is an ugly building in its own right.

Niall Martin

the village of ceres deserves a lot better than a box of timber stuck thoughtlessly on the side of old stone built building in listed grounds

resident of ceres

100% agree with the comments so far. The design is not in keeping with street or indeed, the rest of Ceres. Adding a timber clad box to the gable end of a grade B listed building does not make any sense. The school desperately needs an extension, but not one that will be, in my opinion, an eyesore.

Ian Brown

Further to the comments made by Tony Martin we would like to add our support. The school needs an extension but the exterior of this proposed building is completely out of keeping with this historic village. There are no timber cladded buildings in the village and we do not agree that this will weather well as the Council claims. It looks more like a cheap timeshare than part of an important public building in our lovely village. We as neighbours were not consulted. We should add that the original school building to which the extension will be attached is a stone built, Grade B listed, building!

Ann & Bela Simandi

Up till recently, I would have found it hard to believe that a Council would promote such ridiculous building design and materials for the extension to a category B listed building. However, the pendulum seems to be swinging away from buildings being designed in sympathy with their surroundings in favour of reproducing the latest architectural fads at all costs, in this case timber cladding, silly canopies, bits of flat roof, etc. Apparently, the design/materials are justified in a 'Design Statement' but such documents can be used to justify anything, no matter how inappropriate, whether in appearance or durability! Planners should be able to judge what is, and what is not, appropriate without the need for a Design Statement. Finally, may I add my support to the comments above which represent the 95% of the population who are not impressed by the blind application of current architectural fashion.

R Smith

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