East Dunbartonshire early years centres

Key Facts

• Four early years facilities in total.
• Two new build facilities.
• One extension to an existing nursery.
• One former library building refurbished to form an early years centre.
• 3,800m2 of accommodation in total.
• 362 early years places.
• 1,140 hours per week of early years education.

Collaborative procurement ensures value for the customer

Ensuring the projects were affordable and viable for East Dunbartonshire Council was important from an early stage. We worked with them on seven potential sites and provided logistics, methodology, programme and cost advice, before they narrowed the selection down to four sites.

The project was delivered by hub West Scotland, a development partnership that speeds up procurement in comparison with the traditional OJEU route to market, and offers customers guaranteed value for money.

Robertson has worked collaboratively with the design team throughout the process. Using common design elements across the projects, as well as a single design team, has also brought efficiencies.

Working in partnership to benefit the community

Working in partnership with hub West Scotland means that these projects provided support for local communities in a variety of ways, including creating local employment opportunities, apprenticeships and work placements. This social value is built into contracts, and is monitored and audited by hub West Scotland.

Early years education across East Dunbartonshire

Increasing the high quality, flexible, accessible and affordable early years education on offer will benefit both children and families throughout the area.

• The Bearsden Early Years Centre was built on the site of the former Brookwood Library on Drymen Road in Bearsden. With 95 places and 966 m2 of new accommodation, it is associated with Bearsden Primary School. 
• The Lairdsland Early Years Centre was built on land next to Southbank Drive in Kirkintilloch. This stand-alone facility offers 95 places and 1,179 m2 of new accommodation. It features a spacious, airy design with a range of indoor and outdoor facilities with play/learning zones.
• The Oakburn Early Years Centre was built on the former St Joseph’s Primary School site in Craigdhu Road, Milngavie. This new-build early years facility provides 101 places and 1,179 m2 of new accommodation.  It includes fully equipped playrooms with the latest digital technology, an internal courtyard space for indoor and outdoor play, a mezzanine level with access to a chute to the lower floor, and a large garden space.
• Killermont Primary School, in Bearsden has been refurbished and extended to provide around 475m2 of new accommodation for early years education, adding 80 early years places to the school’s existing provision for 206 primary school pupils.

Project team

Architect: Holmes Miller
Quantity Surveyor: Doig & Smith
Principal contractor: Robertson Central West
Structural engineer: Will Rudd Davidson
M&E engineer: Baker Hicks