CONSTRUCTION of the £14.3 million Calderwood Primary in East Calder has been completed earlier than anticipated.
The project has been delivered by hub South East, with Morrison Construction as the primary contractor. This is the same team behind the nearby award-winning West Calder High School.
Because construction work was delayed due to Covid-19, the building was not expected to be ready until 2022. However, the school has now been handed over to West Lothian Council, with pupils able to attend from Wednesday 22 September. Nursery pupils will start from Monday 18 October following Care Inspectorate registration.
The school has capacity for up to 462 primary and 128 nursery pupils. It is required to cope with increasing demand in the local Calderwood Core Development Area, which is expected to see up to 2,400 new homes built.
Leader of West Lothian Council Lawrence Fitzpatrick said, “We are absolutely delighted to accept the stunning new Calderwood Primary school as a flagship addition to our school estate, which is already one of the best in the country. The new school has been designed and built with the learning experience at its heart, and will help create a focus for the new Calderwood community. We know all the parents and carers in the local community will be delighted to have such an excellent facility on their doorstep.
“There have been many challenges to deliver such a fine school against the backdrop of a global pandemic, so huge thanks to hub South East, Morrison Construction, jmarchitects and all the other contractors for their efforts to complete it on budget and ahead of the revised schedule.”
Greig Jamieson, hub South East’s commercial director, added, “It’s fantastic to be marking the early handover of this innovative new learning space. Feedback has been incredibly positive and It’s encouraging to see how excited pupils and staff are to begin their learner journey in their new school. The new Calderwood Primary is a state-of-the-art facility built to a high quality, but more importantly, it’s a space designed to encourage innovative learning and provide the right platform for its young people to reach their full potential.”
Eddie Robertson, MD of Morrison Construction Building Central, said, “Our long-term partnership with West Lothian Council and hub South East has seen us deliver an impressive portfolio of schools over the last few years, and Calderwood Primary is no exception. Through fantastic collaboration with all the stakeholders involved, we are proud to have delivered this high-quality facility and played our part in establishing a new school community in East Calder.”
The design of Calderwood Primary by jmarchitects has ‘sustainability and suitability’ as core objectives. Ciaran Quinn, senior architect with jmarchitects, commented, “jmarchitects are delighted to have been involved with such a prestigious project, working in close collaboration from the outset with West Lothian Council, Morrison Construction and hub South East to propose a design approach based on key themes and design drivers. It has been a real team effort throughout the whole project to ensure that the client brief and project aspirations were achieved.”
