The site of the college campus occupies an edge of town location, fronting one of the major approaches into Falkirk from the M9 motorway, providing a major public frontage opportunity. The landscape approach focusses on establishing an appropriate setting to the new Campus in relation to its landscape context, whilst aiming to create a pleasant learning environment for students.
A linear parkland edge wraps around the public realm frontage of the building, combining existing retained trees, new parkland trees, multi-stemmed birch and bands of perennial planting to create colour and seasonal interest in a sequence of spaces between the public street and the building.
A public forecourt provides vehicular drop off, accessible and visitor parking within a clearly defined area separate from the main college car park, acting as a raised plinth to the building and connecting with the main entrance plaza. Avenue tree planting clearly structures the layout of the space and reinforces the route to the entrance to the building. Bands of aromatic planting on the approach route introduce colour and sensory interest.
Tree avenues and hedge/ground cover plantings break down the scale of the staff/student parking area, which is structured to create a central avenue approach to the northern entrance to the building. The planting minimises the impact of a large number of cars on the surrounding area and in views from the building.
The layout of the building and main car parking area creates a major east-west axis through the centre of the site, forming a ‘green link’ offering a pedestrian connection eastwards to the parklands and attractions of The Helix and The Kelpies and westwards to future development sites and the town centre. Formal groups of birch trees set within an informally arranged sequence of planting beds of native and ornamental ground covers and perennial plantings form a major defining element to its overall character.
The three courtyards within the building are given distinctive minimal treatments, each focussing on a key plant type as its defining feature – bamboo; flowering dogwood; magnolia. The northern and central courts offer spill out space for study, relaxation or discussion, whilst the southern court is predominantly paved with seating as an extension to the refectory and café.