St Columba’s RC High School and Woodmill High School (part of the new Dunfermline Learning Campus) were designed by AHR Architects and delivered by BAM UK & Ireland.

The high school development is currently the largest UK Passive House education facility at over 26,000m². The schools form part of AHR’s and Fife Council’s journey to reduce energy use and carbon emissions.

NetZero Facades was heavily involved in the design process by working in collaboration with Metal Technology, BAM UK & Ireland and AHR Architects.

Metal Technology’s Passive House certified System 5-45 Hi+ inward opening windows and system 17 Hi+ curtain walling were installed in the development. Both high performance products have been designed to meet the required Passivhaus energy efficiency criteria and are reported to have been installed in the development ‘to great success’, achieving an airtightness test of 0.45 m3/hr @ 50Pa.

Metal Technology assisted in developing optimal window configurations for classrooms that could accommodate specific ventilation requirements, and developed feature cappings to its curtain walling system to meet the designer’s shading needs for the façade system.

Metal Technology’s high-performance systems are designed to perform seamlessly together to deliver the desired aesthetic and performance standards. Further products installed in this exemplar campus include System 5-20D Hi+ doors, System 23 louvres and LV023 barrier grilles.

According to Metal Technology, there has been an increased demand for new education buildings utilising the Passivhaus standard or improved Fabric First approach.