Riverside Primary School, Perth

Key facts

• 500 primary pupils
• 80 nursery pupils
• 16 ASN places
• 4,254 m2 of internal area
• around 50% less energy use than a typical similar sized building

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 orientation, facade, materials and detailing. We appointed a dedicated in-house Passivhaus champion to our team, deepening our expertise in meeting the strict efficiency requirements and boosting our ability to deliver more energy-efficient schools in the future.

When complete, the school will make a key contribution to Perth & Kinross Council’s work to tackle climate change.

A carefully phased project

The project is 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 have joined their peers at Balhousie Primary School while construction progresses – 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.

– Kevin Dickson, Regional Managing Director, Robertson Construction Tayside

Project team

Architect: Architype
Project manager: hub East Central Scotland
Principal contractor: Robertson Tayside
Civil & structural engineer: Goodson Associates
M&E engineer: Baker Hicks