gm+ad architects will lodge their proposals for a new school for children with severe sensory impairment with Glasgow City Council Planning Department on Friday 22nd October. According to the Leader of Glasgow City Council, Cllr Charlie Gordon, "This is going to be one of the most important projects the Council will be undertaking over the next two years".

The school in Dumbreck is to be situated within a superb parkland setting on the south side of the city and will be to teach children from the age of 4 to 18 life learning skills. The children are blind or have acute visual problems and may also have cognitive and mobility impairment and hearing difficulty.The building works with the existing site features, so that for instance all trees are kept and accommodation is arranged around a beautiful sensory garden.

The project was won by the architects in competition and will be the first school that gm+ad have completed. Their clients, Glasgow City Council have decided to procure the building using a traditional building contract, not by PPP and the contract value is 6 million The school is to be complete by August 2006. It will be the first school building of it's type in Europe and follows an intense briefing period, involving all the design team and visits to schools in the UK.

According to Gordon Murray, of gm+ad architects, "The design includes proposals for new streets and squares, visual and auditory cues, naturally lit galleries arranged around existing trees, north facing class rooms, teaching and learning spaces and gardens for recreation, fun and relaxation. The building has been specifically designed so that the kids can wander in safety, increasing their sense of independence without putting them at risk."

The new school will bring together the existing schools of Kelvin and Carnbooth and will include residential accomodation and teaching space for life learning. "It will be an empathetic environment which will support the children and help the teachers but also a place where the kids can have fun" says Alan Dunlop "a place which offers security but also independence, and we are very much looking forward to taking the project forward "Our design team includes Margaret Hickish, an access specialist from Buro Happold and City Design Cooperative, designers of the Hidden Garden in Glasgow". 19th October 2004