Balmerino Nursery

KEY FACTS

• 930m2, single-storey building.
• Two open-plan nursery rooms.
• 1,140 hours of early education for 3 to 5-year olds.

Time saved through procurement speeds up construction

The project was procured through Major Works – Scotland, part of the Scape National Construction framework, which saves time and ensures the project will be delivered quickly. Major Works – Scotland also provides customers with quality assurances, as well as the certainty that project spend will remain within the local community.

The children who are at the heart of this expansion in provision will be in some of the most modern and tailor-made facilities we can offer, and that will give them the best possible start on their educational journey

– Councillor Stewart Hunter, Convener of Children and Families Services Committee, Dundee City Council

Constructing engaging and innovative early years facilities

The 930m2, single-storey building is located on Balmerino Road on the site of the former St Pius Primary. It will comprise two open-plan nursery rooms, snack kitchen, community room, office areas, quiet rooms and toilets. There is also outdoor space with features such as sandpits and garden planting areas.

The Early Years Foundation Stage is important to forming a child’s educational experience. Balmerino Nursery has been designed as a bright, engaging and accessible teaching and learning space that will help young pupils make a strong start in life.

Photovoltaic panels bring savings on energy costs

The building benefits from an array of 35 photovoltaic (PV) panels, offsetting the electricity used and thereby producing a year-on-year saving to Dundee City Council.

Delivering social value in lockdown conditions

Ensuring that we provide local communities with lasting value alongside our projects is extremely important to Robertson.

During the COVID-19 lockdown conditions, we looked for innovative ways to maintain this. Initiatives included ‘Learning in Lockdown’. This five-day virtual work experience was run by Scape Group and involved a design challenge for high school pupils.

This course was a real taste of the working world. It was challenging but achievable and it taught me that a little self-belief and confidence can go a long way.

– Kirsty, pupil, Boclair Academy

We also:

• placed a 3rd year apprentice on our site with a local bricklaying company;
• engaged SMEs to encourage them to take on apprentices;
• organised site visit for carpentry students;
• delivered a careers talk to over 60 pupils; and
• supported Civil Engineering Foundation apprentices by providing work experience.

Read more about our education projects

Project team

Architect:  Dundee City Council
Project manager:  Dundee City Council
Principal contractor: Robertson Tayside
Civil & structural engineer: Dundee City Council
M&E engineer: Dundee City Council