St Sophia’s Primary refurbishment update
At the recent meeting of Cabinet there was great news for the children and young people of St Sophia’s Primary School. Agreement was reached to increase investment for its refurbishment and subsequently award the contract for the construction works to begin.
Cabinet agreed to increase the total investment to £5.8m, which was primarily to cover inflationary costs as a result of market volatility. The project is being delivered as part of the Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Investment Programme – Phase 2, and is receiving total grant funding support of approximately £4.241m.
St Sophia’s will be developed to the new EnerPHit building standard and will be the first EnerPHit certified school in the UK. EnerPHit refurbishment transforms the energy efficiency of an existing building, working within the existing footprint and structure. Undertaking a deep retro-fit to an EnerPHit standard also provides an opportunity to rationalise and improve the layout of the existing building in terms of its suitability to ensure this is fit for purpose and remains aligned with 21st century learning and teaching.
Councillor Elaine Cowan, Cabinet Spokesperson for Education, and Children and Young People said: “The decisions taken by Cabinet mean that a contract for construction work can now be awarded for the St Sophia’s Primary School refurbishment, which is great news for the school and most importantly, for our children and young people.
“St Sophia’s is an exciting project and incredibly innovative. It will be the first EnerPHit certified school in the UK and hopes to deliver significant energy reductions by improving the fabric of the building. The children and young people have now been decanted to the former Kirkstyle Primary School and thanks to the wonderful staff from St Sophia’s and our parents and carers this has been working well.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Project Team, who have worked really hard to ensure that the tender value compares very favourably with market rates for similar construction contracts across Scotland.
“It will be full steam ahead now and it is anticipated that work will start on-site late 2023.”