Vale Of Leven Academy, Middleton Street, Alexandria

The Vale of Leven Academy, located on Middleton Street in Alexandria, is a substantial school building dating from 1884, with a significant extension added in 1902. It is a rectangular building, largely symmetrical in design and originally two storeys high, with a further mezzanine level in the central block. The building is constructed of red sandstone with a base course, lintel and sill courses, and features architraved windows on the principal elevation. Bracketed eaves add visual interest.

The east (entrance/Middleton Street) elevation comprises a taller, five-bay central block with a slight projection, flanked by three-bay wings. The central block features three ground-floor windows flanked by corniced doorways with two-leaf doors. A row of five regular windows occupies the mezzanine level above, with architraved windows to the outer bays, each accentuated by a keystone. A slightly projected and corbelled round-arched tripartite window with pilaster mullions sits centrally on the first floor. The ground floor of the flanking wings features architraved and corniced round-arched windows, while the first-floor windows are similarly treated with a shouldered and architraved design.

The south elevation has fifteen bays, with a window in each bay, and a doorway to the sixth bay from the right. The north elevation consists of eleven bays, with a taller four-bay block on the outer right. The building is fitted with six-pane timber sash and case windows. The roof is covered in grey slate, with a piend and platform design, and includes cast-iron rainwater goods.

The interior was not inspected in 1995. A rectangular-plan hall constructed of red sandstone is located to the north of the main school building and is connected by a covered walkway. The hall’s east side features a round-arched window and a five-bay side elevation.

A red sandstone boundary wall with semicircular coping and square piers with moulded caps encloses the property.

Originally known as Alexandria North School, the building was expanded in 1902 to become the first Vale of Leven Academy Secondary School. It represents an early example of a developed Board school, and the 1902 extension reflects changes resulting from legislation introducing secondary education.