Duncanrig Secondary School

Duncanrig Secondary School was designed in 1953 by Basil Spence as part of the development of the new town of East Kilbride in the South Lanarkshire council area, Greater Glasgow, Scotland. The school was most likely named after the farm Duncanrig in that area.

Although Spence was to design in the modern Brutalist mould the school he designed at East Kilbride was far from that, being entirely playful and theatrical. The use of colour and varied materials were used to achieve his aim. A short film has been produced by the students of the school who participated in a study of the school itself with the assistance of the RCAHMS (Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland).

A feature of the school building was a large mural by William Crosbie representing the history of the Clyde. This was located at the main entrance, visible through a floor to roofline, two storey glass wall. This distinctive feature, much commented on by students and staff, was, like the school itself, allowed to deteriorate over the years.

The building was demolished in 2007. The most accessible record of the building is now at the Sir Basil Spence Archive Project.

A new school was erected on the original playing fields, replacing the original building as part of South Lanarkshire's Schools modernisation programme^[1]. It officially opened in 2008. The new building was designed to be available to the community, incorporating indoor and outdoor sports facilities including a floodlit all-weather synthetic pitch, the home of the Friday Football Project.

The modernisation programme included the merger of Duncanrig Secondary School with Ballerup High School, retaining the name Duncanrig Secondary School, which was temporarily housed in the existing building until the new school was built.

Between January and May 2011 the only Digital imaging class held in the art department created a mural showing the link between Duncanrig and the Luwero Community Project, Uganda and this was installed in the library and was officially unveiled on Tuesday 22nd of June 2011.

References

• Sir Basil Spence Archive Project
• Scotland Land Court. The Scots Law Times. "an action against Mrs Frances Anne Pollok owner of the farm Duncanrig" 
• Miles Glendinning, Ranald MacInnes, Aonghus MacKechnie (1996). A History of Scottish Architecture: From the Renaissance to the Present Day. Edinburgh University Press. pp. see p433. ISBN 0748607412. "[a] theatrical air informed some of Spence's architectural commissions in those days such as Duncanrig Secondary School" 
• Brutalist Architecture in KL
• Holmhills Wood Community Park Action Group (HWCAG) (2005). PPP School Modernisation Projects and the Loss of Open Space in Scotland. 
• Kenneth Davidson Are public-private partnerships worth the risk?. 2003. 

1. ^ "Secondary schools modernisation programme". http://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/info/878/schools/623/schools_modernisation_programme/3. Retrieved 1 April 2011. 

Coordinates: 55°45′31″N 4°12′15″W / 55.758705°N 4.204229°W / 55.758705; -4.204229