Riverside Primary School, Perth
Get in touch
Summary
One of the first Passivhaus primary schools in Scotland
Robertson has constructed this new school, replacing two older schools – Balhousie Primary and North Muirton Primary. It is the first primary school in Perth and Kinross, and one of the first in Scotland, to be built to Passivhaus standards, where energy-saving measures are an integral part of the design.
500
primary pupils
80
nursery pupils
16
ASN places
A highly energy-efficient school
Robertson led the design team to progress the school to achieve Passivhaus standards. Close collaboration from an early stage was key, as was attention to detail around many aspects of the building including building form and orientation, facade design, building fabric construction, materials and detailing.
4,254 m2
of internal area
steel frame
building
50% less energy use
than a similar school
We appointed a dedicated in-house Passivhaus champion to our team, deepening our expertise in meeting the strict efficiency requirements and boosting our capability to deliver more energy-efficient schools in the future.
Now complete, the school makes a key contribution to Perth & Kinross Council's work to tackle climate change.
0.53
airtightness
58.2 kWh/m2 / a
energy usage
(adjusted for GIFA)
15.92 Kg CO2e/m2
EPC predicted
A carefully phased project
The project was scheduled in two phases. Preparatory works began in summer 2021 with the demolition of the nursery at North Muirton Primary School. Nursery children at North Muirton joined their peers at Balhousie Primary School while construction progressed – which was the first step in merging the two school communities.
Perth & Kinross Council has committed to building forward better by adopting Passivhaus standards for this new school. As the delivery partner of choice, we will be working closely with the local community whilst creating a facility that they can be proud of, and that will herald a change in the sustainable delivery and lifecycle of educational projects in Scotland.
Project team
Architect: Architype
Project manager: hub East Central Scotland
Principal contractor: Robertson Tayside
Civil & structural engineer: Goodson Associates
M&E engineer: Baker Hicks
