Official ground-breaking at Dunlop Early Childhood Centre

Councillor Reid was joined on site by Councillors Maureen McKay, John McFadzean, John McGhee, Ellen Freel and Stephen Canning; Linda McAulay-Griffiths, Andrew Kennedy, Head Teacher Mrs Kelly, Depute Head Teacher Mrs Nouillan and representatives from Education, Facilities and Property Management and the main contractor, Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd.

The ECC, which is called The Bridge, is being built on a site overlooking fields just off Lugton Road. The design, which will ensure that children have access to quality learning opportunities and experiences both indoors and outdoors, will see the number of place available to local children increase to 72 places.

This project is also the Council’s first Passivhaus building. This means that the ECC will be built to a world-leading energy efficiency and thermal performance standard. Heat loss from the building will be minimised reducing energy usage and helping the Council move towards achieving sustainability targets while providing an environment with a high standard of internal comfort.

Councillor Reid said: “I was very pleased to perform the official ground-breaking at the new Dunlop Early Childhood Centre with Calvin, George, Sophia, Isabel and Sandy. The new ECC will increase the number of places available to local families, which is great news, and will also provide a high quality facility that will ensure our youngest learners have access to both indoor and outdoor learning experiences. The facility is also our first Passivhaus build. Building to the Passivhaus standard means that the ECC will be very well insulated and that fuel costs will be much lower than a normal building. We are leading the way in Scotland with this technology and I know that other local authorities are following our journey closely.

“This development in Dunlop builds on our commitment to both tackling the climate emergency and ensuring that every young person in East Ayrshire benefits from the very best start in life.”