AOC Archaeology Group was commissioned to undertake a retrospective historic building recording survey of Balhousie Primary School, 77 Dunkeld Road, Perth, on behalf of the Perth and Kinross Council as a condition of Listed Building Consent. The school was left a roofless ruin after a fire in June 2023, and has now been demolished, and this commission has been prompted by the intention by the Council to submit a planning application for affordable social housing at some point in the future. A Detailed/Level 2 historic building recording survey was required by Perth and Kinross Council of the site, as much as is feasible given the available data, based on ALGAO (2013)/HE (2016) nationally recognised guidelines. This level of survey requires a photographic, written and drawn record preceded by an element of archive research to place the findings in context and aid the phasing, general history and development of the building. Balhousie Primary School was built in 1908 as a result of the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act, which made education free and compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 13. It was designed by prominent Perth architect George Penrose Kennedy Young, constructed from high quality red sandstone in a Renaissance-style with Baroque-style detailing, drawing comparisons with the works of Christopher Wren. The exterior of the building remained largely unchanged with the exception of the insertion of doors within the original window openings in the south-east and north-west elevations to provide access to the exterior of the building. The interior layout maintained the original classroom wall partitions with minimal change. Changes to room interiors predominantly involved the subdivision of spaces to create additional storage, welfare and administrative areas in the latter half of the 20th century. Adapting for the increased administrative and legal requirements in the education system and increasing pupil numbers. The only significant structural change was located in the southern wing of the building where two classrooms were merged to create a large dining room, likely due to the removal of the external prefabricated dining room built in the 1940s. Derek Hall's report together with the demolition records, archive research and historical mapping, have identified that there are three main phases of development on the site comprising the original construction (Phase 1), internal alterations in the mid to late 20th century (Phase 2) and additions dated to 2011 (Phase 3).
Fiona Jackson (2025) studied this question.