New Brae school plans submitted ahead of key decision from councillors
A PLANNING application has now been lodged for a new Brae High School, marking another milestone in the project.
However it is still up to councillors to decide whether to press ahead with a new build.
The decision is expected to be taken in January.
Prior to this, a full planning application has now been submitted by Ryder Architecture on behalf of Shetland Islands Council.
The designs are fairly similar to those which have gone up for public consultation in the past.
This includes a two-storey building, largely coloured dark red, which would be located where the current grass football pitch is behind the existing high school.
The current school buildings would be demolished, and the adjacent hockey pitch would be surfaced to an all-weather football pitch.
Planning documents say the new Brae campus would be an “inclusive, welcoming and collaborative through school that also facilitates community resilience, wellbeing and lifelong prospects”.
The proposed school would accommodate 358 pupils from nursery to secondary, with 30 places for children with additional support needs.
The existing school was built in two phases, with the primary department being completed in 1976 and the secondary department opening five years later.
It has previously been described as being no longer fit for purpose.
Previous estimates placed a new build at just over £42 million, but that figure was released back in 2024.
The Scottish Government has previously confirmed an intention to provide half of the funding, through long-term revenue however and not capital.
With plans for a new 3G pitch in between the school and the A970 road shelved, there also stands to be significant landscape space in the wake of demolition.
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A landscape masterplan is “structured around a series of interconnected outdoor spaces that provide opportunities for learning, play, sport, social interaction and quiet reflection”, planning documents say.
“These spaces are designed to establish strong links between the building and its surrounding landscape, encouraging pupils and staff to engage with the outdoors throughout the school day.”
There are also plans for covered outdoor learning spaces with canopies which would make it possible to hold outdoor lessons throughout the year.
“These areas will include seating and tables for group work, art projects, or nature-based learning,” documents said.
Inside the building, a key theme is the use of flexible spaces.
This would be “either in terms of students having both group and individual spaces to study, or in terms of vocational spaces having the room and storage facilities that would allow them to serve multiple purposes”.
There is also importance placed on linking indoors to outdoors, and the use of natural light.
The documents highlight a desire to have some of the spaces open for community use outside of school hours, including the library and the dining area, which could cater for larger events.
Pupils would no longer have to head outside to access the games hall, with a new one integrated into the building’s design.
Unlike the current separated set-up, the early learning and childcare and primary elements would be brought together with the secondary under one roof.
The planning documents also highlight some of the concerns raised by people during the various consultation phases.
The documents say many people “felt that the size and number of spaces were undersized, particularly should the school roll increase”.
Specific concerns included the reduction in area allocated to classrooms, practical subjects and storage.
The response given was that “all space sizes are derived from the schedule of accommodation which sets out specific requirements”.
“These requirements were developed in conjunction with SIC following engagement workshops, pupil role projections, and detailed timetabling exercises,” the response added.
Many respondents also expressed concern that the option of a “light touch refurbishment” to the existing school buildings had not been explored fully.
The response highlighted that a separate feasibility study for the refurbishment of the existing school as “light, medium and significant interventions” is being carried out in tandem to the Brae Campus project and both will be presented to councillors as part of SIC’s business case.
The planning documents do say that a new build was pursued in the first instance, however, because a full refurbishment would have costed similar while not addressing some of the footprint and building fabric concerns.
They add that the “more limited [refurbishment] options fell some way short of achieving the educational objectives”.
The project is already behind on early timescales, which at one point placed the start of construction in late 2025.
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