Inverurie Community Campus wins top design award
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The new £55 million Inverurie Community Campus has won the Development of the Year (Public buildings) category at the Scottish Property Awards.
An independent panel of 16 industry leaders voted Inverurie top from a short-list of five major projects across Scotland.
The judges said the campus "stood out for its collaboration and engagement from an early stage along with the wider community benefits it had delivered."
The main campus building opened for use last October and replaced the former Inverurie Academy, swimming pool and community centre.
It was built alongside the previous buildings in the town centre.
The new building can cater for up to 1600-pupils at Inverurie Academy along with the St Andrews additional support needs school.
It also has extensive community facilities including a six-lane swimming pool, a training pool, a warm water pool and a hydrotherapy pool along with a fitness suite, dance studio, games hall, gymnasium, and a community café.
The project was delivered by community infrastructure developer hub North Scotland on behalf of Aberdeenshire Council with Robertson Construction as the main contractor and Halliday Fraser Munro as architects.
Stewart Small, the Inverurie project director for hub North Scotland, said: “This is marvellous recognition for a fantastic community building which has created a landmark legacy for Inverurie.
"There was great teamwork in dealing with the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions to complete construction.
"Hopefully, we will soon be reaching a point where the community can finally make full use of the wonderful facilities.”
Laurence Findlay, Director of Education and Children’s Services for Aberdeenshire Council, said: “This award is one which shows how well the project was run from start to finish.
"The concept, the engagement, and the ultimate delivery of a project on this scale is tremendous and took a lot of hard work.
“I know that already pupils and young people have felt the benefit of the new space, as have the wider Inverurie community, and I am confident that when the various strands of the campus come back into full operation that benefit will only go from strength to strength.
"This is a true example of a project which shows how the community campus model can have universal benefits, and my congratulation to the team who made it a reality.”
Liam Hanlon, managing director, Robertson Construction Major Projects, said: “As the construction partner of choice for hub North Scotland we are delighted with the recognition that the Campus has received to date.
"Collaboration and teamwork have resulted in an outstanding facility which goes beyond education and will bring benefits to the wider community for years to come.”
David Halliday, managing director of Halliday Fraser Munro, said: “We’re delighted that the judges saw the value brought to not only Inverurie community Campus but the town.
"As always, it was a real privilege to work alongside hub North Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council and Robertson Construction on the project as we continue to develop the community’s infrastructure together.”
During the construction phase, the project delivered several key community benefits including 14 new local jobs, eight new apprenticeships, employed three graduates and gave 840 work experience days to young people and long term unemployed.
Work is currently underway to prepare the former school, swimming pool and community centre for demolition.
Once cleared, the site will become a full-sized all-weather sports pitch, a seven-a-side sports pitch, and a multi-use games area along with additional parking and parkland in the final phase of the project.
