The Model Primary School

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A one and two storey school of asymmetrical layout, designed in a modern style, with exterior surfaces of board-marked concrete, and aluminium patent glazing, all surmounted by glazed steel framed roofs which rise to a lantern light.

The footprint is roughly square; internal planning is based on a diagonal (45 deg.) grid. To the western side there is a part single part two-storey irregularly shaped wing.

The building is set diagonally across the face of a slope with the result that the north and west faces rest on the upper level and are therefore single-storey while the south and east faces rest on the lower ground and are two-storied. Classrooms are individually expressed on three of the facades; the administration area, the main entrance and the kitchen suite sit on the fourth (west) side.

Classrooms on the (two-storey) south and west facades are planned on the 450 grid, the projecting corner is then ‘trimmed’ to the line of the façade creating a canted bay face to each in the process. These are reserved for the more senior pupils.

Classrooms to the (single-storey) east façade have a ‘half-canted’ bay front; doors to the bay allow direct access to the adjoining play area. These are reserved for the junior pupils.

The north façade is complex and irregular. The main entrance is set to the right of centre; to the left of this is the exterior of the kitchen, the wash-up and medical inspection areas; much of this side is without windows. To the right of the entrance are the general office, the head master’s office and the staff rooms. Though the plan adheres strictly to the diagonal grid, the composition of these areas appears somewhat random. The paired entrance doors are timber sheeted with vision panels.

The classroom facades are articulated with canted bays; these are tied together with continuous board-marked concrete panels at the level of the fascia and between the ground and first floor windows. Stall risers to the bays are formed in matching board-marked concrete. Bays have aluminium patent glazing to two faces and diagonal timber boarding to the third; on ground floor an external door is set on this face. Sills are formed in aluminium sheeting.

External concrete fire-escape stairs are located on the south eastern and south western corners; these are mainly obscured from view by various concrete panels. That to the south western corner is articulated with landings and walkways that are separately expressed. The base of each stair is blocked with metal roller shutter doors. Guard rails are brightly painted metal tubing.

With the exception of the sweeping lantern structure, the roofs are flat; these are covered with Nuralite.

Historical information

This school was built 1973-5 to the designs of Shanks & Leighton Partnership of Belfast, with the main contractors Tracey Bros of Enniskillen. The site works began in February 1973, with the foundation stone laid 18 September 1974. The school opened in September 1975. The building was awarded a regional commendation by the RIBA in 1976.

The school replaced the original Enniskillen Model School, built in 1865-67 to designs by Enoch T. Owen, and extended in 1934-35 to designs by Francis Gerald Townsend. The headmaster's house belonging to the orginal Model School is still in place to south-west and is now used as offices for the WELB. [See HB12/17/082]

References: Secondary Sources:
1 'RIBA Journal', August 1976, p.342
2 'RIBA architecture awards', Plan, September 1976, p.5.

Internet articles / sites
1 Irish Architectural Archive

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This is a fine and intact example of a mid-to-late 20th century school in a modern style, laid out in an unusual square plan of diagonal arrangement, on two levels, with classrooms grouped around a central hall, and displaying a characteristic range of concrete finishes both inside and out. The exterior, of one and two storey height, is of board-marked concrete, arranged in panels, its angled recesses alternating with canted bays to produce bold elevational effects, rising to a roof lantern of unusual shape. The interior contains a number of varied spaces which are given special interest by top lit lighting and other effects, most notably the swept form of the main lantern over the central hall, and also by a series of uncommon concrete waffle slab ceilings. The building is well integrated with its partly sloping site, with a contemporary landscaping treatment, which displays such features as a board-marked concrete finish to a retaining wall and tubular metal railings, which are common with the building itself. Created by superimposed square and diagonal planning grids, this is an interestingly conceived building, of exemplary finish and detail, which stands as an exceptionally good and unspoiled example of the creativity of its architects, Shanks, Leighton, Kennedy & FitzGerald Partnership, of Belfast, one of the leading firms in Northern Ireland of their period.

With its distinctive roofline and unusual raw concrete exterior finish contrasting with patent aluminium glazing, it forms a modern landmark of considerable visual impact on a main road in an important provincial town, while also signifying something of an experiment in school design, its protective architectural forms providing a bold framework for the educational environment inside.

Within the overall oeuvre of this pioneering firm of architects, this school is one of a small series of strongly modelled and expressively treated educational buildings which stand out from the general mass of more conventional school buildings of the post-war period in Northern Ireland.

Iin 2010, following consultation, it was decided that it would not be appropriate to list this building. This was because it was considered highly likely that a replacement school proposed for the site would receive planning permission under policy BH10 of PPS6 even if the building were so designated. This conclusion was arrived at only after detailed consideration and costings of alternative proposals which might have allowed the building to be retained and extended to meet new requirements were fully explored.