Comber Primary School, Darragh Road, Comber, Co Down, BT23 5BX

Comber Primary School, built in 1938 to designs by W. Taggart, is a large, single-storey building in the modern style. It is located at the southern end of Darragh Road, on a rise north of the town centre. The facade is constructed of brown brick with a Bangor blue slated, hipped roof featuring an overhang. The original metal windows have been replaced with PVC, although the frame style attempts to maintain the original appearance.

The building comprises two main wings, linked by three evenly spaced corridors. The southern wing’s central entrance bay features a large semicircular arch with a stepped parapet and concrete urns, leading to a shallow porch. Within the porch is a wall faced in a sandstone-like composite material, concealing the entrance doorway with sidelights, fanlights, and flanking windows. Recessed bays with smaller semicircular arched entrances, containing timber panelled double doors, are located at either end of the front wing; the western entrance originally served the girls’ school and the eastern entrance, the boys’ school. A large classroom block was added to the west end of the front wing around 1985, constructed of red brick and bearing a slightly different design, but it does not significantly detract from the overall appearance. The northern wing has a large, projecting assembly hall section on its northern facade, with a hipped roof that appears to have been slightly extended to the north with the addition of a flat-roofed portion. Paved courtyards, featuring shrubbery and wooden benches, are located between the corridors linking both wings. A slightly sloping lawn fronts the school, while tarmac yards are located to the rear. Original wall and railings are present to the south and east.

The school opened in November 1938, and the western classroom extension was added around 1985.