THE new £17 million Countesswells Primary School has been completed almost a month ahead of schedule. The project was delivered by Hub North Scotland with Morrison Construction Building North East as the main contractor and Halliday Fraser Munro the architects.
Groundworks began in October 2021 with construction starting the following month. The site has a two-stream primary school for 434 pupils, early learning and childcare for 60 pupils, a 3G football pitch and outdoor play and learning spaces.
The school will serve the new Countesswells community on the outskirts of Aberdeen where more than 600 homes have already been built. Eventually this figure will grow to 3,000 homes. During construction, Countesswells pupils have been located at the former Hazlewood School in the city.
Ewen Fowlie, operations director for Hub North Scotland, said the fact the school had been delivered ahead of schedule and ‘defect-free’ was testimony to the efforts of the project team, particularly Morrison and its sub-contractors.
He added, “Countesswells Primary School is a fantastic facility for this new and growing community. It is a wonderful building which has been completed to a very high standard and will provide the best possible learning setting for generations to come.”
Mike Bruce, MD of Morrison Construction Building North East, added, “We are delighted with the early completion of Countesswells Primary School, ensuring that its new pupils can start learning within their community sooner rather than travelling into the city. Our tried and trusted delivery approach leaves behind a fantastic high quality and energy efficient building with almost 90% of the works being completed by directly employed Morrison tradesmen or via our local supply chain.
“All those involved in the building can be proud of what they have achieved. This project has also helped launch the careers of another five Morrison apprentice joiners as well as many other apprentices by our sub-contractors such as JKR, Parker Technical Services and R Davidson.”
David Halliday, MD at Halliday Fraser Munro, commented, “We were delighted to be part of the design team to deliver this new primary school within the Countesswells development. Our aim was to design an inspiring learning space that will be at the heart of the community for years to come, which we are proud to say has been achieved.”
Countesswells is the first of two new primary schools being delivered for Aberdeen City Council by Hub North Scotland with Morrison as main contractor. The new Torry Primary School and Community Hub is currently under construction and due to be completed later this year.
