Aberdeen City Council school ready a month early
The new £17 million Countesswells Primary School has been completed almost a month ahead of schedule and handed over to Aberdeen City Council.
The project was delivered by Hub North Scotland with Morrison Construction Building North East as the main contractor and Halliday Fraser Munro as architects.
Groundworks began in October 2021 with construction starting the following month and the new school was handed over earlier this week on Wednesday following final checks. The building had originally been due for completion on 27 March.
The site has a two-stream primary school for 434-pupils, early learning and childcare for 60-pupils, a 3-G seven-a-side football pitch and outdoor play and learning spaces.
It will serve the new Countesswells community on the western outskirts of Aberdeen where more than 600-homes have already been built and it will eventually have 3,000-houses. 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 a 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, Managing Director of Morrison Construction Building North East commented: “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.”
Mike added: “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, Managing Director at Halliday Fraser Munro, said: “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.”
Councillor Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council’s Education and Children’s Services Convener, said: “I am delighted that we have now taken ownership of the new Countesswells School and can now begin the process of fitting out the state of the art building which will be able to accommodate 434 pupils and a further 60 Early Learning and Childcare places.
“The school will also promote health and wellbeing via outdoor learning facilities and a 3G all-weather pitch.
“The new school will not only benefit children and families but the wider community allowing as it will for after school access to designated facilities.”
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.