Primary School With Boundary Walls And Play Shelter, Rockfield Road, Oban

Possibly Alexander Shairp, 1873; Shairp 1894, 1901 additions. 2 storeys over partially exposed raised basement, with 14-bay principal facade. Asymmetrical school building with French style detailing, built into hillside. H-plan main block with 1901 addition to N end, and square 3-storey tower in S re-entrant angle. Bull-faced squared and snecked basement, stugged, squared and snecked sandstone walls, and stugged dressings to quoins and chamfered openings.

W (PRINCIPAL) FACADE: advanced gables in bays 1-3 (1901), 5-7 and 12-14, 3-storey entrance tower in re-entrant at bay 11. Bays 1-3 windows evenly spaced, bay 4, linking stair bay with transomed, bipartite window at intermediate level, door with roll-moulded surround below. Bays 5-7, windows closely spaced, 1st floor centre window with pointed-arch panel over, slit window in gablehead. Bays 8-10, windows evenly spaced. Bay 11, 3-stage tower with principal floor slightly advanced flush with neighbouring gable; main entrance door with moulded surround, pointed arch panel over, window to N face; slit window at 1st floor W face, bipartite at N face; staggered string course at 2nd floor, bipartite windows above, and bracketted cornice at eaves. Bays 12-14, 3 windows, closely spaced at principal floor, roll-moulded surrounds, stepped tripartite at 1st floor, with polished pink granite colonettes.

S ELEVATION: 6-bay elevation composed of 2 gables with connecting single bay gablet between. Bays 1-3, principal and 1st floor windows evenly spaced. Bay 5, tripartite window at 1st floor level and window at bay to outer right.

E (REAR) ELEVATION: 3 gable elevation corresponding to principal front, with early 20th century infill at century.

10-pane timber sash and case windows except for 3-pane in narrow tower windows. Timber boarded doors, with 3-pane fanlight to rear elevation. Grey slate roof with exposed rafter ends, ventilator bases at ridges. Swept eaves to tower with decorative brattishing at apex. Cast-iron downpipes and guttering. 2 coped stacks, single flue with decorative can to rear elevation, shouldered and coped wallhead stack to S corner of N addition.

BOUNDARY WALLS AND PLAYSHELTER: semi-circular cope to rubble boundary wall with cement-rendered pointing. Capped ashlar gate posts, hoop railings along W front of building. Brick playshelter with piended slate roof, cast-iron columns. Adjoining brick toilet block with pyramidal slate roof.