Over the last 8 years, MCS has grown significantly and successfully to reach its maximum anticipated pupil numbers, and this growth has placed new demands and pressures on existing facilities. Throughout this period, the School has been in discussions with City of Edinburgh Council to develop a co-ordinated approach to meeting it’s future needs within the landscape and heritage context of the campus. The changing sports demands and expectations from current pupils and the need to remain competitive with other boarding schools throughout Scotland has now led to the need for the School to replace and upgrade their sports facilities.

In accordance with the siting and design principles established in the Development Framework for the school campus prepared by h+m, a new sports hall and swimming pool are proposed on the north side of the campus, completing the new contemporary built edge to the campus commenced with the development of the Sixth Form Boarding house in 2009. The detailed landscape design proposals continue the design treatments and landscape character established at the Sixth Form Boarding House development to the east and contribute to the long term vision for the character and identity of the overall campus.  

In order that both buildings ‘read’ as a composite and integrated development, a common datum level was adopted for each building, allowing the grass slopes above the athletics track to extend uninterrupted to the new buildings, reinforcing the concept of a new contemporary and consistent northern built edge to the school building complex. The buildings and their associated external spaces have been designed to maximise views to the surrounding city, with the court and terraces between the sports hall and the new pool offering views over the athletics track and to the distant Corstorphine Hill, whilst the court to the east of the new pool offers views north-eastwards to the city centre skyline.